The Return
by RockIll
Summary: Though no one searched and no body was found, a riddle, a Weasley, and steadfast conviction leads to an eyeopening realization and the sequence of acts that it caused. Sequel to In the Midst of it All. Harry/Bill
1. The Prologue: In the Night

_**The Return**_

_**The Prologue: In the Night**_

_**Though no one searched and no body was found, a riddle, a Weasley, and steadfast conviction leads to an eye-opening realization and the sequence of acts that it caused. Sequel to In the Midst of it All.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, sadly.**_

The night sky that had earlier that day been filled with witches and wizards on brooms was now silent. Some had been old and some had been young. But all had been celebrating nonetheless, and some had been celebrating for the past year. Now that the anniversary of the day had come, people were having the biggest celebration ever.

Unlike the first fall of the Dark Lord Voldemort, people were constantly assured by Dumbledore that the evil was gone forever. That day could only have been better if it had not been held on the day of Harry Potter's funeral.

Ginny Weasley sighed. That had been the most eventful day in her life. She glanced at the shining, emerald plaque on her desk. She, along with Hermione, had received the highest accolade one could receive in the wizarding world. They were honored with Confederation of Wizards issued Order of Magic awards, Hermione being the first muggle-born to be awarded and Ginny being the youngest female.

She smiled grimly into the darkness. They had accepted the award for Harry on his behalf. Even if he had been there, they were sure he still would not have accepted the award anyway. There was just way too much press, local and international alike.

There was a sudden banging at the door.

"Ginny, we have to leave for Hogwarts in a few, I hope you're ready." That voice seemed to always chill her lately with its depth of coldness.

Ron had been one of those individuals impacted deeply by Harry's death. Mrs. Weasley had been ailing tremendously the day of the Final Battle. Ron fought tooth and nail to go along with Hermione and Ginny, as they fought to keep him there. When his mother's condition was laid before him, Ron could not refuse to stay behind and help her. He still protested Hermione and Ginny going.

Ginny had an important role ahead of her, Dumbledore told Ron. Hermione was there because of her knowledge of the things Ginny could not 'remember'. Ron accepted his fate. Harry's death hit Ron like a ton of bricks. He locked himself in his room for days, and did not come out until Mrs. Weasley's condition worsened. She had been another person who was directly hurt and devastated by the news of Harry's death.

Ron grew colder and colder by the day. At Hogwarts, Ginny remembered vividly some of the spells he used on Slytherins who had taunted him over Harry's death. He was nearly expelled, and he did not seem to really care either.

"Let them expel me! I could round up the rest of the Death Eater scum!" He had laughed.

Ginny shivered. She quickly shut the window. The banging at her door returned. "Ginny-."

"I'm done packing. Everything is in the kitchen." She said kicking open her trunk and rapidly throwing her things into it.

"Sure." She could basically feel his smirk through the door.

Her cheeks went red as the door flew open swiftly. Ron and Hermione stood there watching her, both with eyes alight in amusement.

"I knew I heard scurrying!" Hermione began tossing some of the things from the dresser into the trunk. Ginny gave her a grateful look.

Ron gave a sigh and started grabbing things. Ginny hurried. She hoped that she could get finished, and get them out before-.

_Peck. Peck. Peck._

Everyone aimed their wands at the window on instinct. A green, odd-looking bird hovered there.

"Who's that from?" Hermione asked. Ginny cursed herself mentally in every language that she thought she knew. She didn't dare to answer Hermione, and went to open the window. That girl could tell a lie better than a Legismency master.

"It's nothing important." The bird puffed out it's chest and looked at her indignantly.

"Of course it is." Ron stated piercingly. Ginny flinched. "You haven't been sending those _letters-._"

Another peaking appeared at her opened window.

Ginny hurriedly slammed the window closed, not before pushing one bird out, letter and all. Both birds pecked at her window continuously. "No, that was a letter from Michael!" Ron gave Hermione a look. They shared a look of suspicion.

"And the other one." There was a crash somewhere in the house.

There was a brief silence. "Uh, we better hurry and see if Tonks has broken something valuable." Hermione said attempting to sway Ron's attention.

"Hermione, now is not the time for your senseless distractions." He said coldly, Hermione flinched. He lazily pointed a finger at Ginny. "She is getting out of hand with these letters to _him_. At first, I could take it as a sign of grieving, but a _year_ has passed." Ginny growled.

A booming sound from downstairs caught their attentions. The door rattled on its hinges. Their wand were back in their hands on instinct. Then there was a piercing scream.

Ginny was the first out of the room, blasting the door off its handles wandlessly, though she had been the farthest from the door. She ran down the hall. Lights flickered, it was a sign that dark wizards were in the house. She was jumping down the stairs three at a time. She was nearly to the bottom-.

_**BOOM**_

The stairs collapsed from beneath her. The very house was shaking up dust from its foundations to its roof. Ginny crouched in a kneeling position. The explosion had blown some dangerous material off of the ceilings and the walls. She quickly cast a Aegis Shielding charm over her head. A rather large chunk of roof fell on top of her, but the shield took most of the damage.

Ginny groaned at the pain in her back and righted herself. She couldn't even see her hands at her sides, the dust was so thick. The dust was stinging her eyes, making them water and preventing her from keeping them open. She rubbed her eyes continuously and her breath was becoming labored as particles were getting caught in her throat.

"_GINNY_!" Hermione's voice cut straight through the dust.

She cast a small shield over her face so she could breathe. Ginny barely observed it before she spun on her feet.

A spell whizzed past her. The malice of the spell made her shiver. The wall shriveled before her eyes and crumbled to dust. She sent out every spell she knew towards the origin of the spell. She heard a body drop to the floor.

_This is ridiculous_! She cast a mild wind spell and pushed the annoying dust out of the large opening where the front door and the wall used to stand. The spell managed to push some of the attackers out as well.

Ron and Hermione appeared out of no where. _Damn, Apparation would be useful right now_, she thought jealously.

From her acknowledging their arrival, she noticed something. What she saw in Ron's eyes startled her to the very marrow in her bones. He was… _happy_. He was oddly pleased. _He wanted this fight._

The dust cleared in the atrium to the house. There was a grand battle taking place outside. Ron wielded his wand like a sword and made quick stabbing motions. Green sparks flew from his wand and hit the closest attackers. Ginny saw the victims convulsing for a few moments and then fall deathly still.

Ron walked over the bodies and joined the battle without a flinch or any other sign of remorse.

She was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders. "Ginny, go and finish packing! Hurry!" Tears shimmered on Hermione's face and in her eyes. Ginny knew who they were for.

Ginny knew better than argue with Hermione. She sent a powerful Oscillating Spell into the street, causing a brief lull in the battle, but more backup attackers were arriving by the second.

"I hope he comes." Ginny said clutching her vulture pendant around her neck.

Hermione sighed, there was a lost look in her eyes. "I-." Her voice caught her throat and she fled into the battle.

Ginny cast a hovering charm on herself. Attempting to fix the stairs would take too much time, time she could not spare. She threw herself into her bedroom, drowning out the shocks she felt running through the house to her, and the sounds of the fighting outside.

One of the owls from earlier was waiting on her trunk's open lid. _How did it get in? _She noticed then that her window was broken.

She approached it quickly. Before she could get to it, it spread its wings and let its parcel fall into her trunk. It shook itself and the brown and black feathers it held turned into pure white ones.

"_Hedwig_?" She breathed. The bird didn't stir _Harry's owl_… Her eyes went to the box. She launched herself at it with fervor. Paper went sailing. She found herself looking at a plain box. She hastily open it.

There was nothing inside. She tore the box apart looking for something, anything. She used her eyes, hands and magic, and came up with nothing.

_Why would Harry give me an empty bo-_. The nearly one-dimensional box began shuddering. Ginny put as much distance as she could between the pieces and herself. She looked for Hedwig. The bird had disappeared. The shreds glowed and slowly brought themselves back together into the form of a three-dimensional box.

_SCREECH_

Ginny jumped and instantly trained her wand on the green, odd-looking bird. She sighed, her heart pounded. _Stupid nerves_! _Stupid bird_!

"Just put my letter with the other returned ones." She turned and went back to looking at the book.

The bird gave an annoying peck at the back of her head. She growled and swatted him away.

"I knew I shouldn't have let George and Fred send you to me. You are more irritating than they were! And I still have no clue what to name you! I don't even know what you are."

The bird seemed to roll his eyes. Ginny would have laughed had the bird not brought the letter closer to her face. _That isn't my hand-writing. _The box glowed in her hand out of the corner of her eye. She paid it no mind. She held her breath.It took a second for her mind to register the manuscript.

She yanked the letter from the bird. It pecked at her shoulder indignantly. She paid it no mind as well.

The letter was quick, brief. There was hardly anyway to know it was Harry as it had no sender address or a signature.

_Dumbledore has been subdued at St. Mungos, and the wizards are after you. I'll try to get some help there. I'll be-_

Ginny did not dare to finish reading it. _He's not dead._ She dropped the letter and dashed from the room again. Before she even reached the stairs, she was casting a hover charm on herself. And when she got to the landing, the fireplace was exploding in colors as more Order members arrived.

She looked out the window, scrutinizing the scene for any sign of Harry. She saw nothing but the dark wizards and a few Order members along with Hermione and Ron fighting them.

She held her breath. She was sure he would be there now. The attack had been without warning. She was absolutely positive that Harry would not leave them to fight off a heap of dark wizards without any assistance.

_He had before. _That thought was what kept her in the house. She and Hermione had been the blunt of numerous attacks over the past six months. When the celebration of the fall of Voldemort had settled, other dark wizards began rising from oppressed darkness.

With Voldemort alive, most of the dark wizards knew that they would have to either side with Voldemort, or hide from him. They all wanted to have the control that Voldemort had, that fear that Voldemort welded. They were determined to wait until the Boy-Who-Lived would take care of Voldemort, then _they_ could rise up and destroy _him_. With Harry's apparent suicide, many of those at the Final Battle, awarded afterwards for taking part in destroying Voldemort and his Death Eaters, were targeted in Harry's place.

Ginny, Hermione, and Ron had been through rigorous training and dueling practices in order to prepare them for their inevitable future battles.

_CRASH_

Ginny had ducked just in time as a well-placed Reducto Spell was sent at the window. She shied out of the way of the shattering glass. She ran from the house to meet her attacker. It was better to keep them out of the house, most of the plans from the meeting a few nights ago were still on the kitchen table.

She let one of the curses aimed at her hit her. It was a curse she knew well. She quickly muttered the counter-curse before she fell to the ground and began imitating the symptoms caused by the spell. The attacker approached, proud of his or her work.

She convulsed on the ground and shook herself the best that she could.

"This was too easy." The dark witch said smugly as she approached Ginny.

She raised her wand slowly.

Ginny stunned her quickly. She stood up, dusted herself off subconsciously, and swiftly removed the woman's arms with a single spell.

That was the new protocol. Instead of killing the dark wizards, they had taken to amputating. It was safe, cleaner than killing, and left the person fighting the dark wizards with a better conscience. It also allowed for more criminals to be held accountable for their actions and questioned.

After the Final Battle, many of the Aurors had to seek psychological assistance from the scenes that they witnessed. Many did not believe that they could ever kill another human being ever again. That was where the protocol had been born.

Ginny surveyed the battle scene. Some help had arrived but it was not enough. Whoever had planned this attack, did so wisely. They picked the perfect night, Harry Potter's birthday. Their stratagems had been perfectly crafted as well. They did not send all of the dark wizards at once. They sent them to the battle in an overwhelming distribution of little by little, with groups of wizards arriving almost immediately one right after the other. _Many of the few fighters on our side are tired already._

Ron stood as the very center of the battle. Most of the dark wizards were flocking to him. They recognized him as the main enemy, and obstacle, on the field in front of the headquarters. He was weaving spells with his wand, some of the dark wizard stepped back and held off. They were waiting for him to get tired. _Not bloody likely_!

He was playing them all like chess pieces. He used the spells sent at him to attack other dark wizards and cast his own dark spells at the original castor. He was not even working at full power and he was taking out several dark wizards at a time. He did not seem to be tiring any time soon.

He was definitely not following protocol with his spells. Ginny was frankly sickened by the spells he used. But she knew he was was not likely to get in trouble from them.

Hermione was at the front of the battle. She seemed to be mainly on defense, the very opposite of Ron. She sent out powerful disarming and blocking wards, most of them were likely learned from one of their private tutors, Bill.

But there was still no sign of Harry. Ginny headed off to the battle to let out some of her frustration.

_What if it was a hoax? What if he's-_

Strong, invisible hands suddenly caught her wrists in a vice-like grip. She screamed and struggled the free herself. But whatever it was, it was powerful and did not loosen its grip.

She found herself being pulled back towards the house. She kicked and screamed, gaining the attention of some of the nearest dark wizards.

They sent spells at her in confusion. She was completely defenseless. Her wand was… being levitated in front of her. The spells hit some sort of barrier and bounced back at their castors.

"Shhh." A soft voice said from her left. She looked over, there was not anyone there. She began to panic.

A finger was placed gently at her lips. Her breath caught her throat. _It can't be_!

"Good, now that you've stopped struggling, you can have your wand back." That voice. That unbelievably familiar voice. She could not stop herself from crying as her hands were released.

"_I knew you weren't dead_! _I knew it_!" She cried into the darkness of the night.

There was not a reply. Something rapped at the top of her head. The icky egg feeling of a strong Disillusion Charm came over her. His presence disappeared.

Then dark wizards began falling in droves. Ginny saw the dark wizards began to scatter in confusion from the sudden ailing of their comrades. Ginny ran into the middle of the field. The dark reinforcements hit the ground before they had stepped two seconds onto the field.

Ginny had been horrified by the various brutal states of the maimed wizards around Ron, but she was taken aback by the vast and unsuspected brutality that Harry was using.

She shook with joy nevertheless. She had always known he had not committed suicide. Equally so, she knew that he would never kill his own child. Those were two things she had _never _associated with Harry Potter.

His story had hit the newspapers days after his 'death'. Many people wanted to know about Harry Potter, the _real_ Harry Potter. The Daily Prophet asked the new heros, Ron, Hermione, and herself, to partake in their assessment of Harry's life.

All three them had refused at first. The wound was still fresh. But Ron, in one of his many-to-come moments of mature analysis, insisted that they get out the true story of Harry before they had another Rita Skeeter scandal on their hands.

There had been many installations, all dealing with a different part of his life. One focused on his home life and how he had grown up, provided by Ron. It got a lot of attention. The Daily Prophet was seeing dollar signs and began putting out special accompaniment to its paper.

When Dumbledore admitted in a private interview that the story was accurate, there nearly was a revolt. He almost found himself sacked and was close to being forced to abdicate from his place as Supreme Mugwump. Many associated that with his new and profound cold personality.

One segment of the profile dealt with his life at Hogwarts. Ginny remembered that well. It took two special Daily Prophets, along with the original, to get the whole story out. Everyone close to Harry at Hogwarts contributed to the story. It was a detailed profiling of each of his five years at Hogwarts. Ginny herself did not know most of the stuff in the paper. Hermione and Ron made sure everything was taken into account and was legitimate.

Another piece that sparked a damn near witch-hunt, was the one that talked about his tumultuous relationship with Bill, provided by Ginny herself. To legitimize the story, she said that she had talked to Harry on a regular basis, but in reality had only used the memories that Ares provided for her.

Many of the readers held the section with a sense of incredulity. It did seem rather odd that a sister would post something so damaging about her brother. Ginny did not hesitate to make sure that what she felt about her brother was present in the paper. It was pure libel. The editors were pulling to remove the selection, and publicly apologize to Bill, but Hermione stepped in and added some details of her own. Ones that _Ginny_ had been trying soften or felt no need to add.

The Prophet got so many angry letters, most of which not directed at them rather than at Bill, that the Wizarding World Wireless, a wizarding world radio, began reading them one right after the another over a span of eight days.

Bill was forced, nearly, into exile. The goblins, who prided themselves on being completely independent of the politics and issues of the wizarding world, fired him. The whole wizarding world shunned him. He pretty much spent his time in the muggle world. He tried to hide from wizards and reality.

On that thought, Ginny was taking off the Disillusion Charm in order to cast the Medusa Spell. The fury from her thoughts of Bill powered the Medusa Spell. With such emotion behind the spell, it hit not only the dark wizard she held eye contact with, but also several wizards around him, turning them _and_ the ground beneath their feet into stone.

His reclusion made her mad beyond belief. He tried to hide himself, but the wizarding world found him. Only here did Ginny feel a bit guilty. There had been numerous attempts on Bill's life, to the point where he had to openly seek help from Dumbledore. It was granted, but he was asked- _commanded_- to give Hermione some extra training that she had asked for and to help Hermione, Ron, and herself with dueling.

Dumbledore was killing two birds with one red-haired block head with a body. He was getting them some extra training, while giving Bill the punishment of training them.

They had put Bill through hell again and again and again.

One thing that really tugged at him was when he had asked them to conjure up angry thoughts and feelings, and fuel their spells with them. They had been practicing a Tossing Charm and Bill had been firmly implanted into the wall by Ginny.

"That was something!" He had said proudly, whilst nursing the back of his head. "What thoughts did you use?"

Ginny had sneered at him at this point. "I was thinking about how Harry's life would have been different if he had gone out with that _Pete_." His face had dropped to his knees.

She turned around as she heard voices coming from the house. _It's about time_! _Not that we need them now_!

_BOOM_

An explosion curse, probably from a dark wizards, tore the ground from beneath Ginny's feet. Having been taken off guard, she went flying backwards through the air. She landed awkwardly and felt several things break within herself. Judging from some of the other victims of the curse, she was one of the lucky ones.

"_GINNY_!" Ron and Hermione shouted. Ginny felt her senses going cold. Her head was getting heavy.

From her position on the ground, she saw what she believed to be an illusion. The explosion had sent the ground oscillating. Some people not close enough to be tossed, were toppled off of their feet. They quickly picked themselves up and continued fighting

An unearthly glow gradually surrounded the field. Ginny saw a figure standing in the middle of the field, in the center as the source of the glow.

Harry, as she was sure the figure was Harry, disappeared suddenly, taking the glow with him. There was a shock wave so strong that Ginny felt it from her position on the ground. Every single dark wizard in the area fell to the ground and did not get back up. Ginny felt cold as she saw all of the Order members along with Ron and Hermione fall as well. Before she could contemplate what happened, darkness met her.

_Here we go! Next chapter is more or less an information chapter! Hint! Review !!!_


	2. Before the Striking of the Hour

_**The Return**_

_**Before the Striking of the Hour**_

_**Though no one searched and no body was found, a riddle, a Weasley, and steadfast conviction leads to an eye-opening realization and the sequence of acts that it caused. Sequel to In the Midst of it All.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, sadly.**_

_White. _Nothing but white light and spots. _Am I in heaven? _The question seemed so silly after she thought about it, but Ginny could not help but to wonder.

She tried to open her eyes but her eyelids seemed committed to staying closed. There was a heaviness over her whole body, but she believed she could possibly move if she needed to.

But her eyes... It was still completely white beneath her eyelids. She began to get a headache from the brilliant exposure.

Letters of the alphabet from an unknown origin began floating into her mind in front of the white brilliance. All were different types and sizes. They were flying in all directions. Those of the same kind arrived slowly and gradually combined to form words.

Her eyes and mind soon connected with her ears as the words spawned voices. The voices grew in volume, and soon in recognition.

The letters suddenly combined into a long chain of letters some making recognizable words.

"_nearly comatose_"… "_unprepared_"… "_so_ _many_" … "_**interrogated**_"… "_killed_"

It was a while before she could separate the voices by their distinct male and female qualities.

The male: "_an invisible guest_" …"_many individuals_"… "_quite inconceivable_"

The female: "_delusional_" … "_murmuring in sleep_"… "_flashes_"… "_even when closed_"

Ginny rolled those words around in her head for a bit, shutting out the others that managed to catch her ear.

_They are talking about the battle. They must be. _

"More than likely just a flash of light." That, coming coldly from the male, struck her from her paralysis.

_Harry!_ She had seen Harry there in the flash of light.

"I agree, the image that they saw was most likely a Death Eater arriving when the spell was cast."

"No, no," she groaned, rolling in the sheets, "he's alive, he's alive."It was painful to talk.

The two stopped talking immediately. One began bustling around her bed, her eyes were still sealed shut, by what, she did not know. She did not see who were the two before her bed.

"Of course your brother is alive, Ms. Weasley." The woman said tersely.

"Madam Pomfre-."

Something was pressed to her lips rather hurriedly, "Drink this down!"

Ginny sputtered a bit as the potion was forced down her throat. She knew immediately what the drink was as she drifted into a peaceful and dreamless bliss.

_This is not right! It just can not be! Someone has believe me!_

Ginny could barely restrain herself from throwing a tantrum and tearing the Headmaster's office from top to bottom. Everyone was looking at her as if she were a loony case.

Hermione laid a calming, yet condescending, hand on her shoulder. "You have to admit that it is a bit far-fetched, Gin-."

"It is not far-fetched, Hermione!" Ginny growled like an angry lioness. Hermione's hand recoiled.

Hermione turned her head, as if to admonish Ginny. Snape's crisp and dagger-like voice cut across Hermione's impeding statement.

"I agree with you, Ms. Weasley, it is not far-fetched." He surprised the whole room. Ginny smiled uncertainly at the help from an unexpected donor. "It is _**absurd**_!" Her face fell. "Magical scans have been performed over that area time and time again. The only magical reads that the scan picked up was Apparation and Port-Keys. There is no proof that this disillusioned conviction of yours took place."

There was a _CLICK_, like the one before the striking of the hour upon a clock, and Dumbledore spoke in a voice that made them all sit straight in their seats. "There is also the fact that Mr. Potter's death is recognized by the Department of Mysteries." Another _CLICK_. "Only _they_ know for sure whether or not a wizard has died, though they rarely give out that information." Dumbledore said, there was steel, barely noticeable, in his voice.

Ever since Harry's death, there had been a cold sense of accomplishment in Dumbledore. His eyes sparkled less, his voice was strict and always concise, and he lost all of his old-eccentric grandfather persona. He seemed to age realistically, using a cane to get everywhere and moved at a noticeably slower pace.

There was talk that he was resigning from some of this positions in the government and from his post as headmaster of Hogwarts. But they were only rumors, it would not do well to dwell on those.

Ginny held her tongue when it came to Dumbledore. There had been a time when Dumbledore had gone off at someone. It had not been pretty.

It was a while back, at a brief meeting dealing with training Ginny, Hermione, and Ron in preparation for the attacks that were definite in their future. Bill was on the receiving end. He had refused, point-blank, to teach the three anything. He said he was going through too much at the moment.

For a moment, everyone had thought Dumbledore was going to allow it, Bill had lost a lost of status and credentials already. Suddenly, Dumbledore's whole demeanor went hellish. Magic sparks went flying. The air was filled with magic.

Even now, Dumbledore's sharp, almost magically enhanced, voice echoed in Ginny's ears.

"_**YOU WILL DO AS I SAY, IF NOT JUST FOR THE DEBT YOU OWE TO THIS SOCIETY**_."

The meaning of his words were instantly understood. Bill looked crushed. Ginny almost felt sorry for him. _Do I feel sorry for him?_ _Nah_, she added as an after-thought.

There was another _CLICK_, like the one before the striking of the hour upon a clock. Dumbledore stood slowly, several people immediately went to assist him, as they did every time, and just like every time, Dumbledore glared slightly and they relinquished their attempts just as quickly as they had gotten up.

"I believe this meeting is adjourned for tonight."

Ginny's eyes flew open, wide in disbelief. Hermione's hand tried to squeeze some sense into her through her arm, but her mind was elsewhere.

She tried to plead. "_Sir_, this _must_ be ack-."

"No, Miss Weasley, nothing _must_ be anything!" His words had formed a sword and stabbed her straight in the heart. _This can not be happening_!

Her mother attempted to pull her from the room. Ginny put up a fight. "But-."

"Molly, if I may keep young Ginny behind for a brief moment." It was noted that his words were commands. They hung like a guillotine in the air.

Molly Weasley's hair was a blur around her face as she shook her head in the affirmative as though her life was on the line. It was not, yet the words had the strong impact that was projected from every question/command Dumbledore gave.

Everyone filed out, many were rushing. It was not the unleashed guillotine that had them scrambling, it was more of what was waiting for them at home. Families, friends, people that they had thought they would never have the opportunity to see again at one point.

The fear that was once evident in the very mention of the name of the person who brought it forth, still attached itself to the psyche of those how experienced it. Some expected, at any moment, for all and everyone that they held dear to be snatched from them with Dark Mark hanging over the destruction.

Counselors and psychiatrists have found the demand so high in Europe and other places touched by Voldemort's reign, that they flocked from all over the world to gain profit.

Hermione, who was also called by Dumbledore to stay behind, had visited her regular counselor's office, Mrs. Telby, earlier that day. She told Ginny how Mrs. Telby was backed up by requests and she was sent to a counselor who did not even speak English.

Snape, who Ginny had found to be almost civil lately, today not being one of those civil days, was the last person out the door. With his hand on the door handle, he bowed his head slightly, almost in respect or understanding to her, and left. Ginny locked that away in her memory banks as Dumbledore surveyed her and Hermione with his powerfully piercing eyes. Ginny held her breath slightly.

Dumbledore straightened his back slightly, there was a pop. He laid his cane, a rough cut, branch-like object with runes inscribed in it, on his desk. He stepped around his desk with agility that had not been present in him for months.

He waved his hand at his door, windows, and the portraits on the walls. The inhabitants of the portraits seemed to suddenly sleep. The closed door shuddered slightly. The windows seemed to darken.

When he turned back to Hermione and Ginny, his long-wished for twinkle was in his eyes.

Ginny barely had time to get the stunned look off of her face.

"That guise gets painful sometimes." He said lightly. The very atmosphere of the room changed. No longer was the guillotine in the air, but a soft, warm presence. Ginny felt a tingle go down her spine and did not hear the _CLICK _of the clock.

"Professor?" Ginny asked unsure of what to say. So much was on her mind.

"I'll talk to you about it later," Hermione cut across Dumbledore, who seems happy to talk about his transformation, "we must assess the recent situation before us."

Dumbledore's demeanor turned serious, but no more serious than the "old-Dumbledore", a phrase that was used more in the last few months than "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named".

"Yes, Ms. Granger, I believe you are right."

Ginny looked between the two of them with uncertainty. _What am I missing here_?

Ginny quickly took a seat as her head began to spin.

Hermione suddenly dashed off through a door, Ginny was sure led to Dumbledore private chambers, leaving him alone with Ginny.

Dumbledore pulled out from his pocket a rare beautiful bowl. It was so precious that no one had been much of it lately. It was filled with yellow candy. "Lemon drops?" Ginny nearly had a heart attack.

"Yes!" She nearly cried out, taking a handful and shoving them in her mouth.

Dumbledore chuckled with his twinkle running full-blast. Ginny realized the stupidity of her actions as the candies turned from wonderfully sweet to unbelievably sour in her mouth. Tears were rolling down her cheeks from trying to keep her mouth closed and the candies in.

When all was dissolved, after painstaking minutes of watering eyes and fish-faces, Dumbledore was playing around with some matrix on parchment with numbers called a Sudoku, Ginny asked a question that had been on the tip of her tongue.

"What is going on Headmaster?"

Dumbledore's eyes slowly left the parchment, somewhat forced. He pushed it all to the side and rearranged the half-moon glasses on his face so that he was looking through them genially and not over them critiquing as he had recently.

"I believe your question desires more than one type of response, so I ask that you specify." _Yup, definitely the old Dumbledore_!

Even in this warm setting, Ginny hesitated slightly

"Sir, I would like to know why I was held back?" _The mysterious transformation from an old, evil bag to a genial, lovable coot can wait._

Dumbledore smiled as if he read her mind. "You were held back, Ms. Weasley, quite simply from what you have told us earlier. Your statements my help us."

Hermione returned from Dumbledore's private chambers with an odd-looking basin her hands. Ginny noticed the runes on the basin immediately. It was a pensieve. A pensieve belonging to a powerful wizard if the runes told anything.

"I still don't understand, sir."

"We have reason to believe that Harry Potter is not dead, and is among us, if the scene from the recent battle is any evidence." Ginny's mind froze.

She had already known such, but to hear it from another individual...

"You have given us more proof than we ever could have dreamed of!" Hermione placed the basin on the desk in front of them. Someone's memories swam in the basin, conjuring up an image in the silverish liquid every now and then.

"So, wait! You believe me?" Ginny was genuinely surprised. She had not expected this kind of reception.

"Of course! Forgive the little act we have to put on." Hermione answered, taking the seat next to her and a few lemon drops from the bowl. _Since when did she eat candy_?

In her mind, Ginny suspected that Dumbledore and Hermione had been around each other quite a lot for the Lemon-Drop Effect to fall over her as well.

"Why do you guys need this little _'act_'? There is no reason to hide the fact that you are searching for Harry! There is no reason, sir, why you should pretend to be cruel and cynical! You are hurting people..." Ginny's words fading into the air as she realized that Dumbledore was murmuring to himself.

"A wise observation." Dumbledore stated slowly, rubbing his chin solemnly.

"Ginny, you don't see the danger in Harry coming back, or even our searching for him." Hermione put a hand on her arm to calm her. Hermione was the only person who could physically touch her to calm her. She always wondered with the girl was Empathic.

"Danger?" She looked at Hermione as though she had acquired a third eye. "There is no danger! Most of the Death Eaters are dead!"

"Ginny," Hermione said in an admonishing tone, "You know as well as everyone in this room that dark wizards are still roaming. Most of them might not be Death Eaters, but Harry didn't completely wipe out all of Voldemort's supports."

Ginny tried a different approach. "There is some changes in the Ministry. They are becoming more indepth with the public. They are trying to make amends for what they've done in the past. The Ministry has already changed their initiatives-."

"Have they?" Ginny was startled by Dumbledore's tone. "Ms. Weasley, Mr. Potter killed people, in front of Ministry officials. Should he return, despite the current change of attitude, they would still hold him accountable for his actions."

"They wouldn't dare! They would have a revolt on their hands. The public knows of Harry's life. We made sure of that with those installments for the Daily Prophet! The public would not allow the Ministry to hurt him af-."

"Unless, the Ministry persecutes us, his friends first. They would turn the public against us, and thus make it easier for them to turn the public against Harry."

Ginny turned to Dumbledore, her mouth agape. Things were clicking in her head. "That's a bit extreme, isn't it? Why would they go through so much trouble to get Harry?"

Dumbledore and Hermione looked at one another for a moment. Ginny could see the argument that was occurring in their minds, and made another mental note on how close they had become.

Dumbledore's eyes went to the desk in what Ginny guessed was defeat. Hermione stood and paced around her chair.

"Ms. Weasley, Mr. Potter's power is no stranger to the Ministry. In their eyes, he could destroy the whole civilization on a whim. They hail him, privately, as being stronger than Merlin. It is true in ways, as Merlin was never known to call on gods and have _them_ work for _him_." Ginny nodded her head slowly. That was understandable. "They also acknowledge how power can easily lead someone astray, and how they can easily turn dark. If the public was faced with a chance to stop a future Voldemort in the making, do you think they will hesitate to act?" Ginny paled in response. _It just can't-._

Hermione spoke suddenly. "Ginny, this is a dangerous matter. We could be placed in prison for treason against the Ministry, aiding a wanted murderer, a criminal, and a future dark lord."

"Harry is _not_ a _criminal_, and he is _definitely not a dark lord_!" Ginny growled.

Hermione brushed aside her comment. "In the eyes of our law making body, he is. And if he is found to be alive, he would be persecuted, convicted, and possibly killed as one." Ginny could tell how hurt Hermione was by her own words.

Ginny was struck by the truth in the statement. _That is why they have all of this secrecy._

Before Ginny could ask another question, Hermione fired one off at her.

"I need- _we_ need to know, how much of the battle can you remember?"

Ginny did not understand where this could possibly be heading. "How can you ask a question like that, I remember most, if not all, of the battle! I still have nightmares" She scowled, narrowing her chocolate-brown eyes. "I don't see what that has do with anything!" She was becoming irritated with the two conspirators.

Hermione did not appear to have heard her last statement. "Do you remember the very end, when the lake regurgitated the bodies of those who had died in the chamber?"

Ginny blinked in surprise at the curious, blunt, and vivid question. She paused, reflecting silently. "I remember the bodies, the blood, the wands..." Bile rose in her throat and she shook herself slightly. She took a moment to compose herself. "I remember Dumbledore giving the Rites of Death. I remember Fawkes taking off with the wands."

Hermione's eyes pierced through her. "Do you remember anything occurring between the lake collapsing the chamber and the Rites of Death?"

Ginny felt as though the answers she gave to the questions had more meaning than one would suspect. It was almost like a trick question on one of Snape's essays.

Ginny was getting angry again. "I don't understand what you are trying to accomplish here, with these questions. If you are looking for information why do you just ask for it specifically!"

Hermione gave a sigh of exasperation. "Ms. Weasley, just answer the question."

Ginny sighed, "No, I don't remember anything between the two events." Hermione looked solemn. Hermione raised her wand slightly. Suddenly, there was a _CLICK_ in Ginny's head.

"Wait, there was some sort of riddle." Hermione's wand hand dropped immediately. "But I can't remember what it said."

Hermione rubbed her eyes. There was a tiny and relieved smile at the tips of her mouth. "You are one of the lucky ones." Ginny waited for her to explain. "You are lucky because so far only five known individuals remembered that there had ever been a riddle. All of whom are in this room."

The implications of those words took a moment to sink in, but Ginny got the message that there were others, most likely hidden, in the room. Ginny turned around searching the room for others. Two people stepped out of the shadows by the empty phoenix stand.

Lately, Fawkes had been spending more and more time out of the presence of his master. Most contribute that to Dumbledore's new attitude, a phoenix is very sensitive to the feelings of the person it is bond to.

"Severus and Nympha-_Tonks_ also remember the riddle." Tonks flipped her hair at Dumbledore and stomped her feet. Chairs appeared and the two took their seats after being offered lemons drops. Both, surprisingly, accepted the candies.

"We all know why we are here, with the exception of Ms. Weasley. Now, Ms. Weasley, we wish to ask you a few more questions." Dumbledore stated.

"Sir, can _I _ask a question of you, please?" He nodded his approval. "Why is remembering this riddle so important? Is the riddle something of importance?"

The answer was quick. "It is not. It was, and is, merely a stepping-stone."

"To do what?"

"Locate Harry." Hermione stated.

"But, you just said that if Harry was found-."

"That is if he is found before the upcoming bill is passed." Dumbledore said with a sly smile.

Ginny noticed that they all seemed to carry those smiles.

"What bill?"

Tonks answered for the lot. "The abridged version is simple. When Peter Pettigrew's wand was found at the Final Battle, Sirius' innocence was proclaimed. He was still written as a criminal in the records in the Department of Mysteries. So, Dumbledore, with many officials backing him, wrote up a bill that should be addressed in a four months around Christmas."

Dumbledore took over from there. "It is a bill that states once a person, with a criminal record is declared dead by the Department of Mysteries, but also innocent of the crimes they were incarcerated for by the Department Heads, that person is to be declared innocent in the records of the Department of Mysteries. There accounts will be unfrozing and their assets with be returned to their families."

Ginny's eyes grew wide as she understood. _Why those sly devils_! _But, wait_! "Harry hasn't been declared innocent of any crimes." She expected them to look downtrodden, but they continued to smile.

"Oh, but he was, when he received a Order of Merlin award. In order for him to protect the wizarding community, he had to kill certain individuals." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

Suddenly, they turned serious. "Back to more pressing matters. I understand, Ms. Weasley, that you have been writing to Harry." Ginny nodded. "Have you ever received a response?"

Ginny's breath caught her throat and she couldn't talk. She nodded. She could feel it, anticipation was thick in the air. Harry could be hours within their grasp with a simple spell.

"The night of the attack?" She nodded again. Everyone in the room was holding their breath. "Is it still within your possession?"

"No." She said sadly. She could practically hear the hearts of everyone in the room breaking. "It was on my trunk when the attack occurred. In the destruction of the house, I believe that it, along with my things, was destroyed as well."

Hermione started. "Your things were not destroyed! They were brought to Hogwarts by some house elves right before the attack ended!" The hope was building up again.

"_Accio Letter_." Ginny cried. She put so much of her magic behind the spell that the door was thrown open upon its arrival and banged off of the wall.

Dumbledore snatched the letter out of the air so quickly that Ginny heard a _SNAP_ as her spell on the letter was broken by Dumbledore.

He observed the letter with his wand for a few moments. "We can not use magic on the spell to locate the sender. The signature has been damaged by magic during the attack."

"Can we still use it?" Tonks asked eagerly.

"Yes." He turned to Snape. "Severus, we will need an Identity Revealing Potion."

"Albus, you know that I don't store those. They are potent if in the wrong hands."

Hermione looked desperate. "How long would one take to make?"

There was a pause in the room, "Only three weeks." Joy was tangible in the air. "However, it needs an October full-moon to harvest one of the ingredients, and I do not have any extra."

Dumbledore nodded his head solemnly. They transcended into conversation of what happened in the Final Battle and its repercussions throughout the country. Dumbledore used his memories to show some of the Ministry meetings he had attended. Tonks showed some of hers with the Aurors.

The effect was the same. People were happy that Voldemort was gone for good. But they had begun to fear the rise of another dark wizard. Persecution for being a dark wizard was becoming a trend. Azkaban was expanded to meet the capacity demand. Vertiserum was becoming a national beverage!

It grew late. The topic on the floor had changed many times, and they had gone through three bowls of lemon drops. They were speculating on Harry's whereabouts, Bill entered the conversation.

"It is a _possibility_ that Harry could be at Bill's." Tonks said. She was one of the few people that believed that, Ginny was sure.

"I honestly doubt it." Snape said, "If their past situations have left us any knowledge, it is that Weasley's cottage is the last place on Potter's visit list."

"However, Harry spent some time there. It would would not hurt to assess the area and search for clues." Ginny had to had hand her credit for that one.

"Professor, why don't we just study the riddle and look for clues?" Ginny asked, using a title of his that she had used very rarely.

Dumbledore placed his hands together on his desk. "We would all love to, Ms. Weasley. But, whenever we attempt to study the memory of the riddle, it appears as a blur."

"Have you tried mine?" Ginny asked with obvious agitation.

Dumbledore and Hermione shared another one of their patented looks. "It is worth the try." Hermione said.

Dumbledore pushed the pensieve on the desk towards her. Ginny rested the tip of her wand on her temple and extracted the memory of the battle. Most, if not all wizarding families knew the procedure. It was common to use memories of a person at a Rite of Death ceremony, rather than just talking about the person. She placed her memory within the pensieve.

Dumbledore tapped the mass of silver liquid. A projection rose from the basin. The hairs on Ginny's neck stood up as the Final Battle replayed itself. Whenever she looked back at herself then, she always wondered what had come over her. But this time, she was not able to focus on herself.

When the projection arrived at the part that they had all been waiting for, the image began to gradually shake and blur. It hissed in a low tone. Ginny's mind tried to get something across, but it failed. The image cleared slowly, the hissing noise stopped, and Dumbledore ended the memory.

Hermione sighed. "It always blurs and hisses." Dumbledore sat straight suddenly. He seemed to be deep in thought. Ginny could feel, even though his eyes were on his fingers, his mind was on her. Something about her was puzzling him.

"I believe this is all for tonight. We shall meet again, after the next Order meeting." The grandfather clock in the corner gave a sharp _CLICK._


	3. The Riddle Part 1

_**The Return**_

_**The Riddle Part 1**_

_**Though no one searched and no body was found, a riddle, a Weasley, and steadfast conviction leads to an eye opening situation. Sequel to In the Midst of it all.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, sadly.**_

"We're sorry Mr. Weasley, we simply _cannot_ employ you here!" The stout, dark man behind the counter said sternly, but in the nicest tone anyone had used with Bill lately.

Bill heaved a great sigh as he began to grow numb inside. The anxiety and hopefulness that had filled him as he entered the shop dwindled into a pang of reality. When someone from Knockturn Alley did not want you working for them, _when they have bloody criminals on the register_, you know there is something seriously wrong!

Bill slowly gathered his tattered belongings, trying hard to compose himself and his thoughts.

He turned to the man, looking him in the eye. "Is it that you "_cannot_" or that you _don't wish to_?" It was a question that he usually asked himself, not the employer. _But I need to know_.

The man sighed. The red, dying sun cast a devil-like aura about the man. He leaned in close to Bill, beckoning for Bill to do the same. It was a gesture of secrecy in the realm of darkness.

"It is not that I do not wish to have you here," he said once they were in a close proximity, "I truly fear for the well-being of the business if you did. The public isn't really taken up with you!"

Bill's hopes died with the waning sun outside and he nodded understandingly. So many times has this happened before, he could do nothing about it.

The man leaned back somewhat. "I most likely wouldn't have let you through the door if I had known who you were. I need to start asking for names at the door." He said to himself, turning around.

Bill know that was an abrupt, yet definite dismissal. He left the shop with a chest too tight to breathe with.

_I should know to expect it by know. I always go into places with high expectations, hoping to find someone with no emotional connection to _**him**. He rarely, if ever, spoke Harry's name, either to himself or to others._If it is not the shop-keeper's opinion, or the opinion of those close to the shopkeeper, it's how the public would react to his working there._

He could just about image it now. Him working in a dark magik shop and hags, criminals, and vampires outside protesting his employment in their neighborhood with signs.

"Excuse me!" He exclaimed as a person walked into him, as though he was invisible.

It was dark and he had just barely left the bustling Knockturn Alley and entered into the dramatically, sparsely populated Diagon Alley.

The figure wrapped in thick, dark cloaks walked on towards the entrance to the alley. Bill bristled. "I said, _excuse me_."

There was a pause. The figure stopped, Bill felt fear for a moment. He looked quickly around, there were no witnesses. _Well, none visible_. He grabbed his wand out of his pocket the exact moment that a yellow spell, Bill didn't know what as it was cast silently, hit him in the chest.

His Curse-Breaker skills kicked in immediately. He cast a stronger version of the _Finite Incantatum _on himself.

At first, he felt nothing. Slowly, but surely, a pain crept from his chest up and out to his arms and down to his legs. It wasn't excruciating, nor was it restricting his motions. But it had an odd effect on his nerves. They pulsed and twitched. And it intensified. His vision blurred as even his optic nerves reacted to the spell.

He knew he should Apparate now, he was alone in an open area with an obviously dark wizard, but there was a thickness in his mind. If he had, he would have surely splinched himself.

"Wat id ou do ou e?" The nerves for both his mouth and voice box semi-under his control. He shook his head to clear it. He merely caused himself to swoon and hit the ground rather quickly.

"I did nothing more than what you deserve, Weasley." He spat at the ground in front of Bill. "I am disgusted by your very presence. And if there weren't Ministry officials watching us right now, I would..." He left the threat hanging in the air as he continued on his way, leaving Bill to the effect of his curse for several hours.

Bill laid there on the ground until nearly day break. No one came to help him. Several people passed him, not one even looked twice to him, once they saw and realized who he was. _And what he had done_.

A passing Auror reluctantly released him, being obliged by the presence of onlookers. But the man did not hesitate to harshly admonish him for causing a scene and accuse him of being drunk. He made sure to mention Bill's name a few times, the crowds were basically spewing fire at him at he quickly left the alley.

Their words, "That's the Killer!", rang in his mind.

Bill apparated into his living room, a feat only he could do. _Except maybe Harry-_.

"_Fuck_!" He shook his head with fervor to clear away the thoughts of Harry that were begin to plague his mind.

He immediately did a scan on his body for magic. Finding himself devoid of foreign magic and as healthy as he usually was, he went through his cottage and did random things. He was expecting a guest in a few hours and wanted things as good as they could be. He shook off the incident in the Alley.

He rushed and took a quick shower. That cleared his mind slowly. He knew that the guest he was expecting would put all of his miseries behind him.

This guest wasn't different from his others. But the woman who sends him the guests said she had something special in mind for him today. She pretty much knew him through and through, she was rumored to be of Seer lineage. Whatever the surprise was, it would be great.

He looked at his watch on the bathroom counter as he came out of the shower. It was three o'clock.

He tripped on a few random items on his way to the bedroom. He picked up the items and placed them wherever he could find a spot.

He heard the little figurines murmuring amongst themselves while he cleaned in the bathroom.

"-Obviously! He's cleaning again, isn't he!" One said in a laughing tone to the others.

"He's expecting _another_ one!" One said in disbelief.

"Second one this week."Said the first.

"They're like smokes to him, use one up and get another." They sounded as though they were trying to talk so he could hear it while pretending to be whispering.

"The nice one too. I actually liked him. He cleaned the dust from the shelf." Bill gave a ferocious growl. The figures went quiet, though they seemed to be laughing scornfully at him.

_DING DONG_

He would deal with them later. Bill quickly cleared a path from his bathroom to his bedroom with a flick of his wand. It was still junky but better than what he started with. He looked at his watch which had beeped, as it always did on the change of the hour. It was nearing five o'clock.

DING DONG

"I'm coming!" He yelled over his shoulder. He checked his work once more time. Satisfied with what he saw, he went to the door with a near light step.

He wrung the door open. A boy, couldn't be more than nineteen stood on his porch. His hair was as dark as _his._ He eyes were just as green. His height nearly the same. _Wow, Ms. Green really knows how to craft them!_

_He felt a burn on his skull suddenly. He shook his head, it must be the effects of the spell from the dark wizard._

The guy looked him up and down for a moment and then pointed wordlessly inside. Bill slid aside and let him in the house, watching every move of his body like a predator ready pounce on its prey. Oh yes, he would definitely enjoy his guest's visit.

......

Albus Dumbledore apparated with the cover of darkness onto the street that Bill lived on. He walked leisurely down the street to Bill's cottage.

There was no doubt in his mind that Bill would receive him coldly. Dumbledore had taken some anger out on him, not directly of course. Dumbledore had merely forced Bill to work with those who held Harry near and dear to their hearts.

After a few months of that torture, and when Bill was nearly tearing up and begging on his knees to cease the lessons with young Ginny, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Granger, Dumbledore had taken pity on the poor soul. He had been facing so much publicity, and of the negative sort. That type of situation was a difficult one, Dumbledore knew from experience.

The public had been breathing down the boy's neck at his every move. His bosses all threw fits of absolute horror at one of their employees being exposed as an 'abuser'.

Surely he did not forgive himself for what he did, but it felt right at the time.

Dumbledore sighed. He would never get to talk to Bill if he kept getting lost in his thoughts.

He continued on down the street at his leisurely pace.

Almost instantly, his devoted old friend, his patented and trusted sixth sense, told him to stop. After many experiences in the world, and some outside of it, Dumbledore knew to heed the warning of that sixth sense. He immediately went under a wandless cloak of invisibility.

His magical cloaks, his everyday ones, prevented muggles from seeing him. Even though he rarely used it, his wandless cloak of invisibility prevented wizards from seeing him. But if they had a sixth sense to the extremity of his, or could sense magic to great extremes, they could sense his aura.

Literally seconds after casting the wandless cloak, a sleek, small automobile pulled up in front of the cottage that belonged to Bill. Curious as to why an automobile would trigger his sixth sense, Dumbledore advanced at a slow pace.

A figure stepped out of the green car. Dumbledore's breath caught his throat. His eyes had never deceived him. _Potter features, black hair, and his mother's eyes!_

Dumbledore nearly dashed forward in order to greet the individual he believed was Harry Potter but once again his sixth sense warned him. _Something was amiss_. The whole situation seemed funny. But Dumbledore's mind was made up. Dumbledore walked forward in decisive strides, for the first time in nearly a hundred years, defying his sixth sense.

Just as he was coming up the drive, he absorbed the features of the boy closely.

He stopped, frozen in his steps, confused.

_It has to be him, the resemblance-. _He had to admit though, that some of the features were not Harry's. There was the tamed hair, the slightly larger forehead, and the tall stature amongst many other minuscule details.

Suddenly, the posture of the young boy struck a chord of memories in Dumbledore's mind. He remembered a female student of his soliciting sex to a few boys for some spending money. _But what does that have to do-._

_No! It-._

Dumbledore's eyes burned with fury. Bill's head suddenly lifted, and Bill briefly looked in his direction. Dumbledore cleared his mind so swiftly that all thoughts would have seemed to have vanished in wisps.

He watched as the same look crossed Bill face that had crossed the faces of the boys the young girl had solicited, before Dumbledore accosted them. It was the look of a wolf with a field full of unattended sheep, fit to be devoured. He suddenly felt sick.

He shook his head as he walked back down the street to a safe Apparation point. "So lost in love that he needs such company in the image of his lost love to sustain him!"

......

"You know what I meant to say!" Ron said as he, Ginny, and Hermione stepped through the entrance of Diagon Alley and into the midday sun.

Even with her back to him, he could feel the patented Granger Glare. "You do NOT just walk up to a girl and say '_what a nice arse you have there_'!" Hermione said in a huff.

His ears went pink. "I was trying to compliment her bouquet of flowers."

"How you get '_arse_' out of bouquet of flowers, I will never understand, Ronald!" Ron winced as she used his full name.

"Shush you two! You're causing a scene! We don't need _this_ in the paper." There was obvious laughter in her words.

She went over to a vendor with magical flowers, Ron and Hermione trailed behind.

"We need to focus on our image, nowadays." Ron mimicked her words behind her back, earning a cuff behind the ears from Hermione.

"It's the truth, Ron." She spotted some lovely pink and blue Singing Lilies. "I love these." She patted two on the leaves and they began singing 'Oh Danny Boy' in high pitch.

"Mom does too," Ron said digging into his pocket and getting the right amount of coins, "I'll take a half dozen please."

The handsome man behind the stand peered at them for a moment. A nice smile broke out on his face suddenly. "Bless my hat, the Golden Trio at my stand! You've made me the luckiest man in the world!" He winked at Ginny who promptly blushed. "You, little lady, can have the flowers free of charge!" He gave another wink that Ron didn't seem to catch, but Hermione did.

After Hermione thoroughly thanked the man for the generous offer, pulling Ginny away from him, but still making Ron pay for the flowers, "_WHY_?", they made their way to Gringotts to get money for their school shopping.

Giggling softly as she went up the white stairs, Ginny suddenly turned to Ron, looking deeply shocked. "Darn it!" She snapped her fingers and turned around as if she had to go find something. "I forgot to tell the man he had a nice bouquet of flowers!"

She and Hermione howled with laughter as Ron turned a beet red.

"Not funny, not in the least."

......

"Grrr, I can't stand it!" Ron stomped out of the bank with a maniacal gleam in his eyes.

Hermione had trouble keeping up with him. "Calm down Ron, you know that they just see the family resemblan-."

He spun around. "But they don't have to talk about _him_!" Ron spat the word out like he would a bug.

"You say it as though you hear this everyday!" She said pulling him into the apothecary store, Ginny followed behind with her arms crossed and a scowl piercing her face. "When was the last time a stranger even mentioned Bill's name to you?"

"Hermione, that's not the po-" Ron was trying to calm himself down.

"He must have been here." Ginny said throwing items into the cauldron she was using as a shopping cart.

"Who?" Ron asked confused.

"YOU KNOW WHO!" She snapped. All of the customers in the store turned to look at them, but one glare from Ginny sent them about their business.

"Ginny." Hermione warned steering her, rather forcefully away from the majority of the customers.

"I can't stand this, he just gets me so _riled _up." She jerked herself out of Hermione's grip. "They had some nerve to whisper about him." Ron nodded.

Hermione groaned but was willing to let them wallow in anger for a bit. "I thought both of you had worked through your anger when Dumbledore forced Bill to train us as a punishment."

A look of content passed between the brother and the sister. "We-."

"It's what Harry would have wanted." Hermione knew immediately, that those were not the words that should have passed through Ginny's mouth.

Ron was extremely sensitive when Harry was the subject. Hermione was sure the sensitivity was from Ron's anger at Harry's secrets. Everything that occurred more than a year ago, occurred without Harry's friends' being informed. _But Ginny_... The girl who had even led them into the Final Battle.

Hermione herself was hurt at points when she thought about their old friendship. Sometimes, she just had to ask herself, "Why? Why keep it all a secret?" She would have been just as open-minded as Ginny, yet Harry still confided _everything_ in Ginny. Hermione was knowledgeable of some of the intimate matters, but still... Hermione was reluctant to tell everyone that she and Harry talked at the birthday party, _it would cause too many problems._

She shook her head, the matter at present needed her attention.

Ron had gone hot since Ginny's statement. His hair, which was now nearly to his shoulders, swayed as if by a gentle wind. Hermione took a protective step towards Ginny, who was watching her brother with an aggressive look that dared him to do something.

"I'm sure _you_ would know what Harry would have wanted! After all, you two kept your own little secrets while _we,_" He pointed to Hermione and then himself, "were helping him through some of the biggest issues of his life!"

Hermione ground her teeth silently. She turned to Ginny praying that she did not fall for Ron's angry words.

Ginny opened her mouth, and Hermione prepared herself.

"Hello, would you like some help in-." The shopkeeper slowly recognized them. "Oh my magic! What a pleasure it is to be in your presence!"

Hermione graciously, and very gratefully, shook the man's hand. The tension between Ginny and Ron lessened, even if but slightly. Hermione allowed them to be led over to the choice materials that the apothecary offered. Their popularity was becoming more and more useful in her mind.

......

Dumbledore knocked on the door of Bill's cottage. Subconsciously, he wiped his hand on the outside of his robe when the task had been completed.

"One moment," came a muffled yell. Dumbledore slid on a mask of perfect concision and coldness.

The door opened a fraction of an inch. One green eye peeked around the edge of the door. Suddenly the door slammed shut, Dumbledore merely blinked in surprise.

"Never," admonished Bill's voice, "_never_, open my door! I have people out to get me!"

"Pssh." Dumbledore restrained himself from shaking his head. He simply rapped at the door in unconcealed disapproval.

He heard a spell being casted. Bill was certainly cautious.

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have knocked the door down, not upon it." The door flew open wide as Dumbledore finished his statement coldly and sharply.

"Headmaster, I'm extremely sorry!" Bill stood at the door in an intimate state of complete undress. The young man as well. When Dumbledore scrutinized their states, both had the nerve to blush.

"Come in, Headmaster!" Bill said slightly unnerved, but doing a great job of keeping it from showing too much.

Dumbledore immediately placed a wandless spell for air purification over himself. It did not take an alchemist to know what the two had been doing, and what the house would smell of.

He took a seat on the couch. Bill and the young gentleman quickly excused themselves and dashed off down the hall.

When they returned, Bill hurriedly ushered the young man to the door, pausing only to slip something into the boy's hands. _A hundred pound note_, Dumbledore observed casually.

Bill turned around after he closed the door sharply (Dumbledore heard an indignant sound from outside) and he saw the knowing look that passed over Dumbledore's face. He shivered involuntarily.

"Sit down, Mr. Weasley." Bill nearly threw himself into his seat.

"W-would you like some t-." Bill tried to gave some control of the situation taking place in _his _house.

A tea kettle appeared before Dumbledore. Bill took a moment to hide the shock that Dumbledore had summoned tea inside of his wards, _after I spent hundreds of hours changing them so that only _I_ could cast magic inside._

"I do not believe I need to waste anymore time on unnecessities?" Bill nodded quickly. The man's temper was known to break at the smallest things lately.

Bill risked a question. "Headmaster, why are you here?"

Dumbledore, who had been pouring tea into two cups, looked up at Bill quickly. Bill cringed. Dumbledore sighed and handed him his cup.

"I will not dodge the issue. I need your help." Bill's cup and saucer fell to the floor with a clatter and splash.

"Shit." Bill said, jumping up and dashing to clean up the mess before it stained. "Harry's going to fl-." His mouth shut with a snap. He froze.

He looked to Dumbledore slowly. The man waved his wand and with a flash, Bill's cup and saucer were back in their original state on the table, sparkling clean. Another flash and the mess on the carpet disappeared.

Dumbledore went back to drinking his tea.

_He had to have heard it._

Dumbledore was working fiercely in his mind to keep the sadness from showing on his face. _The boy is more hurt by Harry's disappearance than he cares to admit to himself and others!_

"Yes, I need your help." Dumbledore said in his old voice. The coldness in his manner disappeared instantly. He could not force himself to keep up the act around Bill when he held so much sympathy for the boy.

Bill looked completely confused.

Dumbledore sighed. He knew what he must do, his sixth sense did not have to tell him twice.

He told Bill everything. Bill responded in astonishment when the truth of Dumbledore's act was laid before him. But surprisingly, Bill did not react with surprise when Dumbledore told him his suspicions that Harry was not dead and what he and select others were doing to find Harry.

"I've known that for a while." Bill said honesty. "I knew from the moment I stepped foot in that garden-."

"Forgive me, what garden?" Dumbledore cleared away the tea set as Bill wordlessly got up from his seat.

He led Dumbledore to one of the most beautiful creations that he had seen in his long life. The very air was comforting him with magic. He had never seen such a serene plot of land. The garden glowed with life and just drew him into it for comfort.

"What a magnificent piece of work!" He truly wanted to ask Bill who had made the garden.

"Harry built it." Dumbledore's head snapped in his direction. _That answers the question_.

The statement made him cease all thoughts running rampant through his head. "What? How?" Harry's magical strength had momentarily slipped his mind completely from surprise.

"I don't know." Bill said honestly. "I just came home one day, and I saw it."

Dumbledore nodded and wandered around the garden trying to find any clues, but always being drawn into admiring the beauty of the place. The magic in the air contradicted the pulse of life that he felt around him.

There were certain things that magic can not do. One of them is give true life. There were spells for animation, but the transfer of a spirit into an object was impossible. Dumbledore admitted that _one_ impossibility dealing with magic.

"Is it magic-made?" He asked casting a spell at one of the flowers.

"Yes." Dumbledore frowned, his spell came back inconclusive.

"But-."

"He had his _friends_ to help him." Bill said pointing to the greek pillars in the center of the garden. "I think he modeled it off of his aunt's garden. I was helping him put that together."

Dumbledore slowly nodded again. _That made sense_.

"But the garden had, I don't know, gone lifeless when I took the translator from that pillar." He pointed to one of the grand pillars slightly in the center of the circle that the other four pillars made. It had a square hole in the center.

Dumbledore went to inspect it. He was impressed tremendously. _If only the boy had shown this level of creativity in school, with or without the help of deities!_

"The garden seemed to have been drawing its life support from the box."

That was understandable. There seemed to be a network of magical ties connecting everything in the garden together. Dumbledore could feel it. They each had Harry's distinct signature though. _Where is the signature of the Greek deities_? Dumbledore could feel it in specific items but not the garden as a whole. Dumbledore was confused and locked that piece of information up in his mind for future consideration.

Bill continued talking. "The fact that the garden looks like this shows that Harry is still alive... and that he has recently been here." Dumbledore's heart skipped a beat.

Bill pointed to the pillar slightly in the center of the other four pillars. Dumbledore looked inside and was surprised to find something in the stony hole. He reached in and pulled out two pairs of sandals. One was the size fit for a young adult and the other fit for a baby.

Dumbledore gasped slightly. The implications were stunning. Even though they, those who remembered the riddle, were convinced that Harry was still alive, to have the evidence in your hands was incredibly overwhelming.

Bill nodded his head understandingly. "The bigger sandals belonged to Harry. A while back, when I was a little angry (he scratched the back of his neck) I tossed them into the bushes. I came back out here a few weeks ago to see the garden as it looks now, which was odd because it looked completely dead after I removed the translator. And I looking in the hole, there were the sandals."

Dumbledore could practically feel the pain in Bill's voice. He looked around him. He had gotten the proof that he needed that Harry was alive. _I just need that darn riddle_!

The sandals were obviously being used as a source of life for the garden. He could sense the aura of the Greek deity that crafted the sandals, both pairs.

He realized that Bill had been talking while he had been thinking. He caught some words just as he was going to apologize for not listening.

"Plus, those nightmares I kept having of the battle ended. I was extremely happy."

"What kind of nightmares? What was in them?" Dumbledore asked sharply.

Bill looked unsure of what to say. "They just kept showing the same part of the battle over and over again. Between the bodies returning and the Rites of Death. They were nothing really-."

"Quite the contrary." Dumbledore said, his voice catching his throat. He placed the sandals back in their place. "Most individuals can't even remember that something took place in between."

"That stupid riddle." Bill murmured under his breath.

"Sorry?" Dumbledore ask, he was sure that he had misheard the boy.

Bill cleared his throat. "Oh, there was this riddle thing that kept playing over and over again in my he-."

"Do you remember what it said?" Dumbledore asked quickly. His heart was pounding.

"Yes, but no, it was also in a different language; each dream held a new language." He saw the look of absolute pleasure on Dumbledore's face as he began digging through his pockets. "What's so important about a little riddle?"

Dumbledore pulled out a tin box with a brilliant smile on his face. "I believe, my boy, that you have just given us the key to finding Harry." He shakily opened the tin box. "Lemon drop?"

......

_**This chapter seemed a bit dry to me, so I'm going to make the next one spicy!!! I miss Petunia's character, she cracked me up in this one... Maybe I should bring her back... hmmm.**_


	4. The Only One

_**The Return**_

_**The Only One**_

_**Though no one searched and no body was found, a riddle, a Weasley, and steadfast conviction leads to an eye opening situation. Sequel to In the Midst of it all.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, sadly.**_

The air in the room was bristling with anxiety. The clock was moving spasmodically, one moment going too slow for her heart to handle, and another moment it was going too fast for her mind to comprehend.

She made a turn in her walking as she reached a wall and went in the direction opposite to the one before it. She knew that if she didn't stop pacing back and forth that she would slowly, but surely, wear a hole in the stone floor.

_Where is he?_ She asked herself over and over again, glancing at the clock frequently. _What if he had been captured? _She bit the inside of her cheek. _Or worse._

She had told him time and time again since they had gotten together, and even before that, that spying was the most dangerous job. But with Voldemort no longer being an impeding and terrorizing obstruction, he thought that he was untouchable and indestructible. He thought that there was no reason to worry.

_Just wait..._

With that thought, Ginny collapsed to the floor in agony. Her heart raced within her chest. She looked to the clock again. _Two hours, ten minutes late._ There was no other reasonable excuse for his tardiness.

Tears were beginning to sting at the corners of her eyes.

_Damn him!_

When Dumbledore brought him into the Order of the Phoenix, there had been immediate resistance and complaining. At that time, Voldemort's demise was fresh in their minds and the possibility of a new Dark Lord was beginning to feel inevitable. But he had ties to nearly most of the aspiring dark wizards, they could not challenge his usefulness as an ally.

Yet, most of the members, declared him to be one of the Dark Lord Candidates because of the ties, and some like Ron were more forceful in their convictions than others.

He immediately accepted the offer to be the spy for the Order against the uprising of dark wizards. She had privately admired his courage then and fell deeply in love. But in the open, she merely defended him and was as much of a friend to him as she could be.

That was one of the many things that drove a wedge between Ginny and her brother. Not only was Ginny acclaimed as one of Harry's confidants and his closest friend, she was also openly on friendly terms with one his only living enemies. _If only he knew how friendly we are_!

Ginny laughed darkly in her empty bedroom. _One would think that a petty school grudge would fade away over time_, but it had not. _Well, Snape is proof that grudges don't disappear with time._

She wrapped her arms around her body as though something very cold was being pressed against her. It was hard to tell whether the chilliness was from the opened window or her thoughts of what could be wrong. She shook herself and tried to focus on something else.

She looked down at the dazzling diamond encrusted, gold band on her ring finger. She remembered when he gave it to her. He had purposely picked a fight with her, _I was just about ready to rip out his guts._ And then out of no where, Draco proposed. She smiled at the memory. He was nearly sent to St. Mungos!

_If only Ron knew that we are engaged_!

Hermione was one of the few people to be aware of the fact that they were dating, and she was also one of the even fewer people who knew that they were engaged. Ginny could count the number of people who knew about their engagement on one hand. _Not including the ring finger_.

Her head nodded sleepily on her shoulder. She had succeeded in distracting herself. With a tired sigh, she shook herself again and went to the window ledge. It was nearly six o'clock.

The view was breathtaking, especially at sunrise. The lake was directly before her and caught the rays of the sun as it peaked tentatively over the horizon. She was not sure _exactly_ which common room their rooms were situated by. She had long guessed the Ravenclaw Tower ever since the beginning of the school year.

Dumbledore had insisted that Ron, Hermione, and herself be given their own private rooms. Draco, once he became a member of the Order, was also given the right and privilege. It was a safety precaution. Not for their safety, it was for the safety of their fellow students.

They were main targets, the four of them. Dumbledore considered them threats to the other students should they be attacked. He was yet to be disproved in any of his assumptions except that one. Ginny was not going to complain. She enjoyed having her own room.

She stuck out her neck and looked to the her far left. The Forbidden Forest loomed imposingly and ominously into her line of sight. She shivered slightly, that was where he was to be coming from.

_Where he _should_ have come from_. She mentally corrected herself.

After a few moments of scanning the air for his broom over the forest, she massaged her neck and leaned heavily against the frame of the window.

She was not certain when her eyes began to droop, but they did. In her state of light slumber, she remembered someone taking her gently in their arms. They took her from the window ledge and laid her in her bed.

When she awoke fully, the sun was high in the sky. She blinked and rolled over to block her eyes from the glare of the sun. She stretched her legs slightly, hitting something. She paused. There was extra weight at the foot of her bed.

_That damned Crookshanks! When will he learn that my comforter was not a play toy!_ Irritated, she kicked out at the obnoxious cat.

There was a surprised fumble as the animal tried to stay on the bed and a loud '_thump_' as it hit the floor. "_Fuck_!"

She recognized the voice immediately and sat up quickly. "How did it go?" Her cracking voice was slightly apologetic.

She had learned long since to always cut to the chase with the platinum blonde. 'Pussyfooting', as he deemed it, was one thing that they both had grown to despise in these hectic times.

"Dead. The lot of them." He pulled himself back onto the bed with a grunt.

She could see the effects of sleep deprivation. The sunk and sallow skin, the puffy and red eyes, he looked like a prisoner in his own mind. It sent a knife through her heart. She crawled forward and took his hands into hers. He smelled distinctly of alcohol.

"You did the right thing." It was what he wanted to hear. Ginny was willing to give him the satisfaction.

"You weren't there, Gin." Her heart fluttered at the use of her nickname. Even after months of hearing it, it still had the same effect on her. But the pain in his voice took the moment away.

"Conan taught me many things, some more rarer than I thought possible, but he never taught me how to take a life." Draco spoke rarely of his tutor from when he was a child. The man had been wrongly sent to Azkaban, and Draco never forgot, but it always caused pain.

"Do you want to talk-." The look in his eyes was answer enough. She sighed. She was going to kill Dumbledore for what he was doing to Draco.

He looked off at the wall almost like in a trance. "They begged me for mercy." Her breath caught her throat. "They were on their knees groveling, pleading, _crying_..." He trailed off.

She hated this. The psychological effects of that _homicidal dark wizard hunt_ that Dumbledore had relentlessly going against potential Dark Lords was unnerving.

A sob tore through his body.

Ginny pulled him close to her. Another one came, and another, and soon the convulsions were continuous. He laid his head on her shoulders and cried. She wanted to cry and vent the endless amounts of worry and grief that she held for Draco. But she knew that she needed to be strong for him. _He_ needed her to be strong for him.

Gently, she pulled him onto the bed and into a repose position. They laid there; her partially wrapped in the sheets, and him fully clothed and robed. They slipped off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

She needed a drink. She needed one badly.

Hermione was never one to condone drinking as a way to solve issues, but today-.

"DAMNIT RONALD!" The shrill sound of Ginny's angry voice, followed by some muffled comments from Draco, resonated through the halls of the school.

She sighed. _He should have waited like I told him to._

"Honestly! What brother barges into his sister's bedroom unannounced!"

She shook her head. She was beginning to talk to herself, and the portraits were looking at her in unease. As she once said: talking to oneself, and hearing voices when no one was around, was not a good thing, even in the wizarding world.

She looked at her watch. Based on her prior experience with this kind of situation, Ron would take to physical violence within the next six minutes. That gave her time to go alert Madam Pomfrey about her definite future patients, and it also gave her the opportunity to run to the teacher's lounge for a quick glass of Fire Whiskey.

The halls were silent, yet they were not eerily so. She heard peals of laughter and happy voices from paintings and from behind doors.

The school was once again alive and animated with the sounds of the chattering of students. Hermione loved it. Hogwarts had always been her second home. And now she felt as though her extended family had come to join her.

Her wand appeared suddenly in her hand. A noise from around the corner in front of her had startled her. It sounded like a moan or a groan. It was hard for her to tell which.

She walked forward quickly, albeit cautiously. Her senses were wide awoke, besides the fact that she had been up for only about twenty minutes.

She turned the corner with her wand instantly trained on the source of the noise. With a sigh, she lowered her hand immediately. Two boys, obviously fourth years or the like, stood in the obscuring shadows of a column. Some articles of clothing lied scattered around them. One stood kneeling before the other.

She cleared her throat loudly. Both boys straightened up and tried to cover up what they had been doing. They moved at the same time, causing a collision of sorts. Hermione shook her head to conceal the essence of a smile that was tugging at her lips.

"Who are _you_?" One of the boys asked, rather obnoxiously.

The other was staring at the Head Girl badge pinned to Hermione's cloak. "Shhh!" He murmured fiercely to the other boy. It was then that Hermione noticed that one of the boys was a Gryffindor and the other was a Slytherin. It was then that she also noticed that both of the boys' pants were undone.

All three of them blushed at the same time when the assumption had been made silently. Hermione opened her mouth to take away house points when she heard the yells coming from down the corridor. She massaged her temples and turned back to the boys who were about ready to bolt from her sight.

"It's been a strenuous day and I'm tired," She said seriously, "Don't let it happen again."

She heard both boys sigh as she turned the corner. "I thought we were dead for sure."

Feeling rather wicked, she yelled over her shoulder, "Don't forget to put on your rightful ties! We don't want any house confusion at dinner!" She heard both of the boys scamper away in the opposite direction. _Maybe this morning isn't that bad!_

* * *

Ginny was a bit worried. And as she looked over her shoulder at Hermione, she noticed that Hermione seemed to be worried as well.

They had both been separating Ron and Draco for fear of another duel like the one that landed both of the idiots in the hospital wing a week or so back. They had managed perfectly fine since the only class the two shared in common was Defense Against the Dark Arts. But now that Dumbledore had called together a full Order meeting...

Ginny sighed and turned in her seat at the extremely large, oval table. The Great Hall had been turned into a temporary meeting room. It was accommodating, both in size and in its calming effect. Something about the stars overhead in the navy blue sky and the spontaneous flickering of the fire in the brackets floating on the wall allowed for everyone to be at peace.

She looked around the table and took in faces. She spotted empty bowls on the table, but there were just a few bowls, not enough bowls for everyone, so she guess them to be for something else.

"What do you think we've been called together for?" She said softly, turning her attention from the bowls to Draco.

She was rather mystified by how calm he was acting. Even with her brothers spewing death threats at him left and right from the information that Ron was pumping them with, Draco managed to look aloof and somewhat bored.

"I believe," He drawled looking towards the door, "Dumbledore must have found something relatively important."

Ginny agreed. "I'm positive that it has to do with your mission last night."

He shook his head. "I have briefed him on the... _outcome_ of the mission, but he did not seem that interested." She could tell that he did not wish to talk any more about it and let the conversation drop.

She reached out for his hand on the table. He gave her a very warm smile. She enjoyed the brief tingle when he touched her hand.

"_GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF MY SISTER_!" Ron jumped up out of his seat and made for Draco. The other Weasley males stood as well, but did not follow Ron.

Ginny had her wand trained on him in a heartbeat. The pendant on her necklace vibrated.

"_I dare you_." The temperature in the room dropped noticeably. The tip of Ginny's wand was a pale blue color, a spell just bursting to get out.

"_SCARLET!_" Ginny jumped. "_How __**dare**__ you defile our family name with the likes of-_." She subconsciously gave her wand a flick and sent the spell flying in Ron's direction.

His anger at Draco had left him without defense to the spell. A shield appeared suddenly in front of him before the spell had hit home. Ginny's eyes followed the beam of magic to Draco, who was in the process of putting his wand away.

"Gin, you did not have to stoop to his low level." She would have laughed at the situation if she were not in it. _Draco just called Ron low, and Ron called me a 'scarlet'. Ironic._

"_THAT IS **IT**_!" Ginny's mom yelled from her position at the table. "_ALL OF YOU, SIT!_" They all did, there was no need to get her angry. She eyed each of them in disappointment that hurt their very bones. "I am ashamed of _each_ of you." Her eyes lingered on Ron. "Your sister is of age, she can date whoever she wishes." _I just hope she is making the right decision._

It was unspoken, but implied. Ginny had never been more disgusted with her family in her whole life than she was at that moment. Other Order members look uncomfortable in the presence of such a family drama.

As if foreseeing an oncoming battle, Draco grabbed her hand in his and brought it to his lips. There were hisses of abhorrence from some individuals at the table, more specifically the Weasley members and the other 'Dragon-haters', as Hermione so dubbed them.

Draco gave her a patented smirk. She frowned slightly. Those smirks of his never meant anything good. The last one she received was followed by a marriage proposal.

It was then that she noted that her hand was still in his and her ring was catching the glow of the fires. It was sparkling for all to see.

_That sly devil!_ She gave a smirk as well and noticed with absolute satisfaction that the hall had gone impossibly quiet. Her mom had clutched her chest in horror. Hermione was staring with a smile continuously tugging on her lips.

"_**WHAT THE**_-." Whatever Ron had been going to say was cut off by the opening of the doors.

As soon as Dumbledore entered with his cane hitting the floor, everyone stood. It was a sign of respect that he demanded the first day he started his 'mean act'. Hermione remained seated this time. Taking a cue from her, Ginny stayed seated, pulling an unsure Draco down with her.

A figure with its hood over its head and in shabby robes followed the headmaster. His or her head was down, hiding his or her identity. It was from her seat that Ginny saw under the hood and recognized the figure as her brother.

"_Bill_!" She growled.

He stopped and wavered a bit, almost as if considering leaving the way he came. Ginny was ready to spew out against the abomination to the Wizarding World. A slightly calloused finger pressed to her lips.

"Don't. He's been through enough." She bit the inside of her cheek. Draco pointed to her and then to the empty chair next to her with obvious intentions. She pouted but nonetheless stood up, pulled the lanky man to the seat next to her.

She noticed immediately that he was thinner. His facial features were slightly sunk in. His eyes were a dull blue. _Oh my_! She turned to Draco and saw a grim knowing look.

She leaned in close. "Did _I_ do that?" His eyes told her the answer that somewhat broke her heart.

She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. When she opened them back up, everyone was seated and staring at her or Bill.

From his seat at the head of the table, Dumbledore stared at Hermione. Ginny once again marveled at their wordless relationship. Dumbledore nodded solemnly. Hermione looked grim. _Uh oh_, Ginny said to herself mentally.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Lemon drop, anyone?" He gestured to the once empty bowls that were now over flowing with the sour-sweet, yellow candies.

It was pin-drop silent. Everyone eyed the candies in shock. Ginny realized what was soon to happen. _Just like they did me._

Draco, with his ever-calm disposition, reached forward to the nearest bowl and grabbed a few. He turned back looking at Ginny inquisitively. She shook her head in the negative. He shot another inquisitive look towards her, this one Ginny realized was for Bill. He, too, shook his head in the negative.

Draco nodded with indifference and sat back in his seat to indulge himself.

Slowly, more and more members helped themselves to the candies. Dumbledore nodded thankfully at Draco for breaking the lull. Draco returned the gesture however in a more reposed manner.

Hermione cleared her throat and began telling the story Ginny had heard before, in much greater detail. Everyone listened, mystified by what they were hearing, Ginny included. Whenever someone wanted something clarified, Dumbledore was the first to answer the inquiry. He then passed it on to the others in the room who knew of his act.

As Hermione finished her bit, the table erupted in chatter.

"So what you are saying is that Potter is still alive?" Draco asked loudly over the noise.

The chatter subsided. "Yes." Dumbledore said simply. Draco visibly relaxed.

Ginny watched Draco's reaction to the question in confusion. It seemed as though a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"Why hasn't he contacted us?" Dumbledore's eyes flickered to Ginny at the question.

She tried hard to keep the blush that was creeping up her neck from showing. Draco noticed this with narrowed eyes.

"Maybe someone _has_ been contacted by Potter. Someone who was writing to him every chance she got." Ginny glared at Draco, who was suddenly very interested in the grain of the table. _He is sooo going to pay for this!_

"Ginny?" Her mom asked in disbelief.

She sighed in irritation. "Yes, I have been writing to Harry. But all of my owls were returned untouched-."

"Who examined the letters to see if they had been read?" She did not see the person who asked her the question.

She opened her mouth to give a retort but found her lips stuck.

She allowed no one to examine the letters. Recently, she locked them up in the box that she got fro-.

She gasped. It was then she realized a horrible mistake she had made. Her eyes went wide in shock.

"_**ACCIO BOX**_." She all but screamed the incantation.

_How could I be so stupid? He sent the box for a reason. I should have noticed it two months ago._

The letter that Harry had written, she remembered, was sent to her by the bird she had sent _her_ letter with. It never gave Ginny her letter, and she assumed Harry had kept it. When she had been sorting through the letters, she found neither Harry's letter or rather note, but found the letter she had written.

_That box_! _It must have had an enchantment on it so that Harry's letters would only appear when it was nearby..._

The doors to the Great Hall burst open, despite the wards and charms Dumbledore had placed upon them. The vulture pendant vibrated against her chest.

The box slowed once it was near to Ginny and hovered in front of her. There were some muttering on her use of wandless magic, but most had seen her in the act before and were not surprised, completely that is. She clutched the pendant on the necklace around her neck. The vulture seemed warm to the touch, aside from the fact that it was absorbing her body heat.

_I wouldn't be able to do have of the things I do without this._

It was a sad reality, but it was an honor all together.

"Is the some type of _engagement_ present you want to share with us?" Ron snarled at Draco rather than Ginny.

"No... it's a _box_." Draco laughed coldly. "But I don't think _you_ could afford it nonetheless."

Ron's eye twitched. Before he could say anything, Moody, who had been staring at Bill ever since he entered the room, spoke.

"Albus, what is _he_ doing here?" Everyone knew which 'he' he was speaking of.

Dumbledore looked vaguely happy and surprised, but for reasons other than Moody's question. His eyes twinkled and Ginny had a feeling she was not going to like this. _I hate surprises._

"Mr. Weasley," Ginny's other brothers hissed. Dumbledore continued as if they had never responded at all, "Has quite a bit of information regarding the information we can use to locate Mr. Potter."

The chatter built up again. Ginny looked to Bill and saw a complete resignation in his features.

"I won't believe it until I see it." Ron spoke what most, including Ginny, had on their minds. Dumbledore shot him a slightly admonishing glance.

Hermione waved her wand and Fawkes appeared moments later with Dumbledore's pensieve in his claws.

"She can summon his phoenix." Draco whispered in awe.

It was unheard of in the wizarding world, to be able to call upon the familiar and or bonded servants of another wizard. The only known exception was if the person was family. Once more, Ginny marveled at the relationship between the Head Girl and the Headmaster.

She performed some very complex charms on the pensieve. She walked around the table, after petting Fawkes on the head and thanking him, and set the pensieve before Bill.

"Bill, just put the memory in here. I charmed it so everyone could see the memory."

"Completely rubbish." Ron murmured loud enough for everyone to hear.

Bill did the task of removing the memory silently. Ginny saw a flicker of pain pass across his face. But it was gone so quickly that she had to wonder if she really saw it at all.

A flash of light hit all of those in the room. Ginny felt herself sudden transported out of the Great Hall. She looked around, she and everyone else were in the memory.

There were bodies everywhere. Many of the non-memory Order members looked sickened by the carnage. Ginny could see that most of the injured bodies belonged to Aurors or Order Members, some of whom were with her.

In the distance, she could see reporters taking pictures and approaching rapidly. Hermione in the memory went to head them off.

"_Lord Dumbledore, what is it doing?" _Ginny recognized the person doing the healing of the captives as Gregory Thompson, a healer she had gotten to know well.

Everyone's attention went to the lake and the sky above it. Ginny could see the look of recognition as those who could not remember, were beginning to. Ron looked around himself in horror. _What had he expected, a jubilation over the fall of Voldemort!_

Dumbledore took a while to answer, even though it was no longer an evasive statement. _"He is making the ultimate sacrifice."_

Ginny saw her disgruntled look in the memory, and was surprised by her own audacity.

"_Dumbledore, I have seen too much crap today to sit here and listen to riddles."_

"_Harry is going to sacrifice himself in order to destroy the Death Eaters and Voldemort."_

There was the collective gasp. Even though Hermione had held most of the press away from the disaster, a few had gotten around her.

Ginny's eyes traveled to a lone figure on the banks. She approached him.

Bill was an absolute mess. Covered in dirt and blood, he looked like he had been chased by death. Many of his bones were at odd angles and his very skull was bleeding. _How had I not noticed this before!_

She looked back at her memory self and saw that she had been arguing with Dumbledore at the time.

"The baby." She heard him mutter. He did not even seem to notice that he had muttered those words.

Someone yelled, pointing towards the sky, whether it was a memory person or a someone who came with her, she could not tell, but she looked up. The clouds in the sky turned a dreadful red. Lightening flashed,_ though there was no rain_. Thunder boomed intimidating.

_Suddenly, a tremendous bolt of lightening ran from the cloud to the lake, and to the Chamber. The ground itself seemed to cry as it rumbled and the lake gurgled and the water level lessened considerably. The red light disappeared._

_The middle of the lake seemed to have caved in dramatically. Then suddenly in a sprouting motion, a giant gush of water mingled with bodies, blood, rocks, and black cloaks shot skyward. The water sloshed along the banks like tidal waves. The press couldn't take enough pictures to capture the moment. The was a blast of wind that knocked the papers out of the hands of those with them present._ Even those who were not a part of the memory were blasted by the wind.

Many people looked sick at the carnage. When Bill, in the memory, threw up, Ginny was happy that she had taken pity on him to clean and help him up.

The ground continued to groan, the sky rained down tears of sadness. Ginny saw some of the non-memory individuals gaze around themselves in apprehension.

Just like it had a year before, the red water diffused into the whole lake, turning it pink, and it washed onto the banks.

Several reporters looked quite sickened. They paused in their notes to get pictures that would circle the globe for many months after that day. _They were still in the papers!_

Dumbledore, who had been watching this with sorrow, spoke a phrase that carried like the pictures. "It is done."

The trees drooped, several of them let their leaves fall. The water went still, even though it carried the blood of the enemy. The evening sky went gray.

Ginny , who was standing next to the memory Bill was suddenly yanked away by the real Bill. As she retaliated by fighting back, a thick beam of red light struck the ground near memory Bill from the oddly churning clouds above them. Ginny's eyes widened and she did not continue to fight Bill's grip on her. She clamped her hands around his arm.

Something was being said. It was almost like poetry only in a different language. Ginny saw the look of complete astound on both Bill's faces. The beam pulsed and thundered what it said once more.

Ginny's head snapped in the direction of a gasp. Draco was watching the beam like it was an object of the utmost antiquity and required complete reverence. "Olympian," he murmured.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw that Hermione too took note of his observation.

_Olympian... That's understandable. These are greek deities. And it would explain why we couldn't understand it. We are only mortals. _She looked down at the necklace. _But shouldn't this allow me to hear?_

xX Unless you are not supposed to hear, young mortal. Xx

Ginny had to place her hand over her mouth to keep from gasping out loud.

She wanted to respond, but she was unsure how. It had been a while since a deity had spoken to her directly. They usually approached her in dreams and the like.

Bill lessened his grip on her at her sudden moment. "I'm sorry." He said quick, ducking his head in shame. "I'm sorry for grabbing you too hard."

Ginny shook her head. "You didn't. I was just..._ surprised_ by some- Bill?"

He was shivering slightly. His eyes were very piercing. "You had that look on your face, the one that Harry had when I first saw him... You were talking to _them_, weren't you?"

Ginny could not conceal the look of surprise on her face. "Something like that." She said vaguely. She trusted Draco's opinion, but she still was not sure how much she could truly trust her brother.

He nodded solemnly at her vague words, and it was then that a question suddenly popped into her head.

"Have you ever talked to them?" The question caught him completely off guard, Ginny was sure.

"Only when that occurred." He pointed to the place where the red beam had been.

Ginny bit her tongue to keep in the question she was bursting to ask him. _Did he understand what the god-or gods- had been saying?_

They looked at each other for some time. Both were looking for answers to questions that they did not want to verbalize. Ginny's question replayed over and over in her head. Suddenly she felt a spark. There was a look of bewilderment in Bill's eyes and it was tinged with something she knew too well. Fear.

Ginny's eyes widened in shock. _He knew_! _He knew the riddle-well oracle, and didn't tell anyone._ _Why was he keeping it a secret? Wh-._

The fear was still in his eyes as hers narrowed at him. "You're scared of him."

Bill shook his head in the negative. He looked away from her. "I _did_ know it. I didn't understand its important though. And when I thought about it, everything came back to me, it just- it was painful." Ginny was shaking in anger. _How dare he say it was painful to him!_. "Then came the nightmares, I realized the only thing to do was to take a Lethe Potion."

Ginny gasped. Lethe Potions were classified as one of the few Potent Dark and Inhuman potions. It was not like the border line Memory Charms as those could be reversed, and they only blocked a memory while putting another in its place. A Lethe Potion removed the very memory of something specific from a person's mind through a painful process.

The potions were banned world-wide, most of the ingredients that go into them were banned as well. _Just making one was punishable by death_!

"Bill-."

He continued as if she had never reacted or spoke. "It took me a few months to hunt one down, and even then it was harder to steal. But it wasn't worth the trouble. The potion did not remove the memory, it merely blocked me from understanding it."

He turned his back to Ginny as Dumbledore in the memory finished the Rites of Death. _"And the wand of the grand Light Lord Harry Potter of Gryffindor..."_

The memory ended. Ginny was sure that it had been Bill who ended the memory to avoid further questioning from her.

Everyone was discussing the memory. Ginny saw Hermione head over to Dumbledore, and point at Draco, most likely relaying his observation to Dumbledore.

"That was..." Ron said from a few steps away, completely out of words. Ginny bit down the retort she had ready for him and took her seat.

Draco did not bother to restrain himself. The scene in the memory obviously had taken its toll on him. "Always eloquent, Weasley." Ron's ears went red.

Ginny ignored their bickering and looked to Bill. He was shivering again.

She wanted to yell, scream, and fly at him with her fists, but she could not. She would never forgive Bill for what he did to Harry. Yet, as she looked at him, she saw that his punishment had been dealt fully.

Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. She was tore between hating her own flesh and blood, and comforting him. _It must be horrible to live through the repercussions_ _of his actions _every single _day_!

She made up her mind. Slowly and tentatively, she laid her hand on top of his shaking one.

He gave a jolt and she heard his breathing quicken. "If he forgave you, than so will I."

"He did." Bill said with a choked kind of sob. Ginny was happy that everyone else were distracted. _It must hurt a lot in order for him to cry in public_, she gave his hand a squeeze. "He forgave me and still loved me after all I did."

"I'm sure he did, Bill." She believed her words. It was something Harry would do.

She gave a mental laugh. _I'm officially a Harry-ologist!_

Bill gave a groan. Even though she could not see his face, she could tell he was still blinking back tears. "You don't understand. At the Final Battle, he said it, from that platform he and Voldemort were on." His voice gave at that moment.

Ginny pulled him into a hug and stayed that way for a few moments. She knew people were watching her now. She could feel the tension in the now quiet hall. Turning, she had prepared to glare at all of them, she froze.

Everyone, minus Dumbledore and Hermione, had their wands trained on Draco. He sneered at them all. Bill slowly removed his arms as she stiffened.

"I see loyalty and dedication means nothin-."

"You never had any to begin with." Ron said with conviction. Ginny's blood slowed when she noticed that his wand was pointed straight at Draco's heart.

Draco gave a quick breath. "Understood." He took in the faces of everyone in the room. "I see no need to be a part of a _club_ where one is persecuted for being-."

"A future DARK LORD!" Ron bellowed. Draco merely raised an eyebrow.

He did not respond to Ron's remark. He shook his head slowly, in disgust. And with a fake smile, most likely hoping to cheer her up, he leaned over and kissed Ginny on the lips.

A spell flew at Draco and Ginny. Draco put up a shield so fast and so strong that Ginny felt it pulsing. The spell, along with several other wordless ones, flew at Ron. Ron was blasted off his feet and was implanted in the wall behind him. The other Weasley's rushed to help him.

"I will be in your office _happily_ awaiting the Memory Charm, Headmaster." The only time the Memory Charm was used in reference with the Order was when a member was kicked out. All knowledge had to be removed for the safety of the Order.

Draco turned and left. _Wait, what just happened?_ Things had flown so quickly that Ginny barely kept up.

Ron was pulled to his feet, and, once free of the spells Draco had put on him, he launched at Ginny. The biggest mistake he would ever make.

The pendant on Ginny neck vibrated against her chest. Several people backed away from Ron when they saw the raging look in her eyes. It bespoke doom.

From the ceiling of the Great Hall, the Hall was illuminated as lightening flashed and thunder boomed onimously. There was not a cloud or drip of rain in sight. A lightening bolt, almost hot as the sun and just as bright, flew from the ceiling and hit the place where Ron had just been moments before. A hole was scorched in the ground.

Several people screamed and turned their wands on Ginny. She eyed them. _Bring it on._

"GINNY!" Hermione said. "Calm yourself."

Reluctantly, Ginny did so. She sent Ron a withering glare. Ron looked up at her in fear and spite.

"_This is enough. Stow your wands and take your seats_!" Dumbledore growled menacingly. Ginny was the first back in hers. Ron relocated to a spot nearest Dumbledore. "This childish behavior has gone on long enough," He looked straight at Ron when he said those words.

Most were looking at Ginny. Summoning lightening bolt surely was not horseplay as Dumbledore had made it seem.

"We have figured out the language to the oracle spoken by the deity in the memory." Hermione's voice seemed to carry over all of the previous attention-grabbing scenes. "It is Olympian."A few muttered. "Now we have reached another obstacle."

Dumbledore rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Such a dead tongue has rarely resurfaced in our times. In the past century, I have personally known only two who even _knew_ it."

"Lilian Evans, mother of Harry Potter." More whispers as Hermione spoke. "And a man, who was in Azkaban, but is no longer alive, Oleo Conan."

There was silence. Ginny noted the confusion in the room. _No one knows who he was_. And, as if another lightening bolt had entered the room, one that was aimed at her this time and full of enlightenment, Ginny jolted in her seat. _Conan_. That was the name of Draco's tutor!

She gasped at the implications. "You mean Draco's tutor from when he was a child?" Like a Quaffle had been passed, everyone looked to Hermione.

"Draco Malfoy is currently the only person alive who knows Olympian. Therefore, a key to us finding Harry." Everyone's eyes slowly drifted to Ron...

* * *

**_When I say something is going to be action packed, I usually mean it! lol REVIEW, come on, please, it'll make me write faster!!!! lol_**


	5. Always Draco

The bar _Hangnagel_ was known for its sleaziness. The atmosphere practically oozed malicious intent and nefarious deeds that have happened and were soon to happen. It was one of the few establishments under constant Auror surveillance and raided just as often as other bars were not.

Criminals and suspicious characters were drawn to the bar like a dementor to a happy memory.

Draco sat in the darkest corner nursing his sixth glass of the cheapest firewhiskey that the bar offered watching dark figures slipping in and out of the bar with practiced ease.

_If only they made Odgen less expensive and more potent._

His conversation with Dumbledore drifted back and forth in his mind like a flying insect that annoyingly buzzed around one's head merely to irritate to the point of madness. Dumbledore had not given any sort of warning or introduction once Draco restated his request to leave the Order in Dumbledore's office.

"_You are our only hope. Please. I will not erase your memories unless you are fully certain of it two days from now. That should be enough time to think it through."_

Draco gripped his glass harder. _Damn Weasel and his breed to hell. _The family had been a mandrake to him since he was a kid and now they were making his ability to work with and in the Order impossible. They accused him of dark activities at every given opportunity, insulted his blood, and were absolutely ignorant and unappreciative of the back breaking work he did for the Order.

He would have reinitiated a Blood Feud between the two houses, which would undoubtedly lead to their ruin in the present state of affairs, if his relationship with Ginny did not hang in the balance.

Now he had to choose between helping find Harry with the Weasel Clan and most of the Order out for his blood and being free of this burden but also losing the most important thing in his life: Ginny.

He sighed into his empty bottle and beaconed for another. The bartender nodded immediately. He did not notice the bartender getting stopped by a man on his way back to the bar.

Ginny was the only reason why he was in the Order. He was in it for her, and stayed in it to make her happy. She had told him that it was would guarantee his safety. He laughed scornfully out loud when he remembered that specific conversation. _Safety definitely means different things to different people._

His love for her was the only thing that was not affected by him being in the Order. His mental wellbeing along with his physical and magical health had taken a turn for the first since his initiation.

He took a swig of the new opened bottle of firewhiskey brought by the bartender without looking at it, though after wandlessly checking it for any types of potions and poisons as he normally did. He immediately regretted it.

He coughed as he felt the impact of stronger, more expensive alcohol rush down his throat. He held the bottle out and read the label.

**Schumachers Fiery Firewhiskey**

_Putain de merde!_ Schumachers was one of the most expensive brands on the market, _when it is on the market_. Draco had tasted it in small amounts on rare occasions. He even had a few bottles of it and other rare liquors at home, but had decided not to waste them on his pity party.

As he made to call the bartender over and tell him about the mistake, he decided against it. Like a true Slytherin, he never looked a gift-horse in the mouth.

After a few more swigs, his current issues slapped him mentally in the face like a hippogriff.

_Ginny or no Ginny is what my decision boils down to_. Dumbledore had never verbalized that exactly, but he definitely hinted at it.

"_It would give you time to think who your choice will affect and how the effects will touch you in the future."_

It was like having the weight of the world on his shoulders. _I see how Potter felt, and to think that I once envied him._

The thought of Dumbledore breaking his own rules of not letting anyone who wanted to leave the Order, especially the voluntary, keep the vital knowledge that they obtained while working for the Order never crossed Draco's mind. He had expected Dumbledore to simply accept his resignation and let him go about his life.

_Fat chance! Of course the one time that Dumbledore would break the rule is when I'm on the other side asking to leave._

He slammed the empty bottle down slightly harder than he expected. He did not feel the impact of the bottle hitting the table, and the sound was slightly dulled. Several startled dark figures turned to glare at him as they were abruptly interrupted in their conversations.

Draco ignored them completely.

_I'll bloody work with those bastards, but only if they leave me the hell alone._ He decided in his head. _Ginny would want that_. _I might as well get on her good side before she becomes my wife._

He laughed and shook his head lightly, distantly enjoying the whooshing and blurring that the movement caused.

He could feel that he was drunk, or at least close to getting there. His mind was becoming clouded with hazy thoughts, mouth tingled, and his limbs felt as if they were made of rubber.

It was absolutely accidental that his mind registered the empty bottle being removed from his grasp and replaced with another full bottle of the same brand. He glanced at the man who had sat the bottle down and then proceeded to sit himself down across from Draco. Draco's senses, albeit magically enhanced through rituals, went on high alert immediately despite the alcohol in his system.

The man simply oozed dishonesty, disreputability, and malevolence. He wore shabby clothes and had a moleskin bag slung over his shoulder. His large and uneven face was cast in numerous shadows. He gave Draco a wide, broken grin. He looked too fishy, too interested in Draco. Draco felt his tongue too heavy to tell the ban off for inviting himself to his table.

"Draco Malfoy. What a surprise!" Even in his drunken state, he could hear the crude humor hidden in the man's oily voice.

"Whoru," he coughed to bring back some semblance of Malfoy pride back to his voice, "Who are you? You may excuse yourself from my table immediately."

The man drew back slightly like a wounded animal. He seemed to consider something for a moment. He smiled more broadly, causing Draco to find and grip his wand tightly under the table.

"There is absolutely no need to be hostile, Lord Malfoy." Draco's wand arm flinched slightly. The man noticed the reaction and seemed almost encouraged by it.

Being called Lord Malfoy was something he had always longed for as a child. Draco had, like others he knew within noble circles, suffered greatly from the deaths of most of the Death Eaters. In order to secure and "rebuild" the Wizarding World, the Ministry drew resources from those families with Death Eater connections.

It had been financial bankruptcy for many families and compensation for those who had been impacted through death or injury by the Death Eaters. The ministry charged all families with proven dark ties absurdly large sums of money in damages to all those that had been proven done wrong by the dark family members. Families such as the Lestranges, Flints, Montague, and Bulstrodes existed only in memories. The children of such destitute families were only saved by marrying into gray families that accepted them due to family ties.

Draco had been saved by the fact that his father died by his hand after his father murdered his mother for disobeying him in the Manor. The Malfoy family magic took it as a betrayal, and he had been nearly disowned magically from the family lineage. His ancestors had encountered numerous homicidal attempts by sons on their fathers or brothers, and on their own sons in some cases, in order to gain or retain the Lordship of the Malfoy family. They enacted several blood rituals to punish those who attempted any such acts in the future. The price of such, due to the severity of the attack, ranged between losing the Malfoy name, the right to magic, and in some cases death.

Luckily for Draco, the Ministry had recently, despite its initial hesitance, accepted his petition to file the necessary paper work for the proper Reinstallation Ritual.

It had been a trying process to get his name and title.

"I'm sorry, I was just leaving, Mr.-," Draco said, not bothering to wait for the man, who he swiftly realized was a journalist, to respond.

_He probably bought me my drinks too, sly devil._

"I wish to only take up a moment of your time, sir." The man said pulling out a folder.

Draco swayed slightly as he stood. _Shit, he chose the right liquor!_ "I have pressing matters to attend to."

Draco promptly turned to leave.

"Not to worry, sir. I'm sure I will find information of Harry Potter's _dark_ alliances elsewhere."

That threw a wrench in Draco motor capabilities. He stumbled into a nearby chair and grasped it tightly to regain his balance.

He nearly threw up on the spot. "Excuse me? Harry Potter and "dark alliances", you surely have lost all semblance of sanity."

The man laughed heartily. _He can't know about Harry's deity friends, can he?_ "I assure you, Lord Malfoy, this is exactly where I'm going with this. And I'm quite with myself, thanks."

Draco groaned slightly as he leaned further on the chair nearest him for support.

"Are you well, Lord Malfoy? You seem… under the weather."

Draco lost all semblance of patience. "What are you getting at? What do you want?" He growled, sobering up wandlessly. It was much slower with sobering up with a wand or a potion, but he was feeling slightly more in control of himself with every passing second.

"Simple information, Lord Malfoy," the man put his hands together as Draco sat down at the table again, "just a tad bit of information."

Draco leaned in as he noticed that they were attracting unwanted eyes. "How dare you defile his image with such false accusations, you berk," Draco barked, "For what, for a few hundred Galleons and a two page story."

The man threw up his hands in a sign of innocence. "No such things will happen. I'm merely a concerned and curious citizen asking for answers to very important questions." The man dropped his innocent tone immediately and pulled out a dreaded QuickQuill. "Lord Malfoy, how powerful was Harry Potter?"

Draco bit back a snide remark and put on a charming smile. "Harry's life is an open book to the masses. I'm sure his amazing abilities have been documented numerous times. Why, off the top of my head," he paused to gather his thoughts as the reporter frown slightly "I can count three or four new books coming out this year."

He gracefully patted down his robes and showed every bit of the aristocratic upbringing that he had.

"I will be… delighted to look into that." Draco was pleased to note that the man's pause had been recorded by the quill. "What do you say to the rumors that Mr. Potter had _unnatural_ amount of power driven by dark allegiances and dark rituals?"

Draco laughed slightly. "I'm quite sure I would have expected to have read something about that by now." Draco clucked his tongue. "Some of his school rivals remarked that Harry was _such_ a light wizard that it was rather disgusting at times." He gave another brief chuckle while mentally chanting _death to you, death to you_ in his head. "But the statement must be made: Harry was unimaginably powerful and brave. He defeated Voldemort with his bare hands in our first year, battled a Basilisk with a sword _and lived_ our second year, and conjured a fully corporal Patronus our third year to dispel hundreds of Dementors."

Draco smiled evilly. He was mentally praising the gods, _Harry's gods_, for the new laws on QuickQuills that decreed all of the conversation recorded with a QuickQuill must be printed the way it was spoken. "Even as his rival at the time, I couldn't help but marvel."

The reporter frowned. It was obvious to both parties that the interview was no longer under the control of the journalist. Desperation shone in his eyes as he asked his next question.

"Many Dark wizards in history had been able to fool others until it was too late. How are we able to be sure that Harry Potter had no dark ties?"

"You are hopefully not serious." Draco let the disgust he felt mold into the incredulous and insulted tone he used. "Even his worst enemies found him too pure! His Rite of Death could not have taken place if he were in any way affiliated with dark wizards. Let's not forget the fact that he sacrificed himself to rid the rest of us of Voldemort and a mass of dark wizards." The quill scratched furiously at the parchment. "That was a selfless act if I've ever seen one."

"But _how_ did he sacrifice himself? What Magiks did he use?" The man wringed his hands, "No one has a direct answer, which leads me and countless others to believe that it was an older unknown type of magic that most normal wizards would not have access to."

"Harry Potter is NOT a Dark Wizard." Draco realized his slip of tongue immediately. The journalist's head shoot up in amazement. _Damn this alcohol! _

" 'Is', Lord Malfoy? Are you saying that Harry Potter is not dead?" The man's eyes shone with glee.

"Of course he's dead! The Rites of-."

"Have been fooled in the past by countless others before Harry Potter," He glanced briefly at the parchment skimming its recorded contents, "You mentioned earlier, Lord Malfoy, that Harry Potter has cheated death before on several occasions. What's to say that he hasn't managed it again?"

Draco's mouth shut with a click. He mentally prepared to Crucio himself. The reporter smiled evilly. "That will be all. Thank you for your time, Lord Malfoy." The quill stopped writing, and the parchment closed and sealed itself drawing on the magic of the two parties that were included in the interview. It disappeared in a puff of smoke with the Malfoy crest printed in black ink and the magical signature of the journalist underneath.

The journalist disappeared nearly just as quickly, and Draco downed a third of the fine bottle of Firewhiskey in acknowledgement of the hell he had just brought upon himself. _Why me?_

* * *

Draco was one of a handful of people completely not startled by the Daily Prophets article the next morning. "_The BOY-WHO-LIVES?"_ It practically screamed scandal, despite the obvious legitimacy behind the direct quotes and mention of Draco's full title in the article.

Draco sighed and summoned a house elf to bring official parchment and quill. He noted two inaccuracies and countless over-exaggerations. For once, he was happy to have received the education in pureblood rights and traditions along with the Old Laws that his father forced him through.

Once the elf returned, he thanked it awkwardly after which the elf promptly fainted out of joy leaving Draco to call two more elves to remove the currently unconscious one. _Not again! Damn Granger, her "all creatures deserve respect" infatuation, her influence over Gin… and Gin's influence over me._ Both women had taken it upon themselves to insist that Draco be nicer to his house elves, who had for centuries been mere slaves to the family.

Draco promptly wrote four letters, one to the Ministry, one to the Wizengamot, one to the family's solicitor, and one to the editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet. He outlined the harms that the article inflicted on his and his family's name, and hinted threateningly, when necessary, of what he would do if his family's name was smudged in any other article. His family might have lost a considerable about of esteem and prestige in some circles, mostly dark ones, but it carried reasonable amounts of influence still. _Mostly due to me and my good deeds!_

He addressed the letters and sealed them with his magic and his family crest before sending them off.

It would not do much to pacify any awakening curiosities but it would save him some face. After a brief moment of contemplation, he strengthened the post wards around the manor. All post would be deposited in a tower in the west wing of the manor and not brought to him. He did not want to think about how much post and how many howlers he was bound to receive.

He had written Dumbledore the moment he got home from the bar and warned him of the article, and also tell him that he would be willing to assist the Order find Potter. Dumbledore responded to him with a simple 'thank you' and gave him the time of the next Order meeting.

Knowing that there was nothing more he could do, he spent the rest of the day at Gringotts discussing his proposal to Gin and making the preparations to make her transition to Lady Malfoy smooth. She had to be keyed into the wards, the vaults, and other properties of the Malfoy Estate. She would also have to be educated in the ways of the Wizard Nobility. He gave her several books before he left Hogwarts.

_She will be an asset to the family._

At the end of the day, he went home and sent her a letter before he took a bad to relax and went to bed.

His letter to the editor along with one from Dumbledore appeared on the front page of the Prophet the day after Draco sent his. Dumbledore chided those who rudely spoke ill of the dead, recalled the numerous investigations carried out by international governments and third parties to be assured of the fact that Voldemort was dead, and chastised those he considered ungrateful towards Harry for his sacrifice in his letter.

Dumbledore did not address the issue of Harry being possibly alive in his letter. Draco felt was strategically clever of the old man as few would attempt to challenge Dumbledore's words, and if they did manage to solve the riddle and find Potter, no one could say that Dumbledore openly stated that he had a hunch either which way.

The accusations and rebuttals did not go without consequence. Draco felt numerous, unidentifiable individuals attempt to disable his wards in the 48 hours after the appearance of the first article. The wards on the manor were centuries old and withstood the brunt of the attacks, but Draco made sure he threw as much of his own deadly wards and power into the manor as well.

Draco noticed quickly that he was not the only one experiencing difficulties. Numerous friends and associates of Harry Potter were soon reported by the Prophet to have been under attack by Dark Wizards who saw this as a way to bring Harry out of hiding if he was actually hiding.

_I can't stay in the manor forever though while others are helplessly defending themselves. Especially Gin._

She sent him a letter stating that the wards on the Burrow were not in any way strong enough to withstand an attack. She also hinted at the mistreatment from her mother and brothers due to her relationship with him.

_The bastards! They turn against their own blood_

He then made perhaps the dumbest decision of his lifetime, or the smartest. He dressed in his tradition Lord robes completely

He apparated to the nearest Apparition Point close to the Burrow and swiftly made his way towards the house. He sent his Patronus, a beautiful eagle, with a message to Gin that he was there.

His heart rejoiced after his Partonus flew directly towards the crookedly build house. He had worried that she would not be there.

He felt the mediocre wards picking his intentions and magical signature apart. He didn't fight them. They washed over him like a blanket of cold water.

He saw flashes of light headed in his direction. Instead of defending himself directly, he manipulated the wards to see the spells as being caused by bad intentions. Normally such a feat took minutes to hours, but the feeble and unfocused wards immediately responded to him.

The wards turned on their owners, specifically those who attacked Draco with not too nice spells. _Pathetic wards, it's a wonder that they managed to survive this long._

Draco paused to enjoy his work. Both Weasley twins had been knocked flat by their own spells and the older Weasley, whose name Draco was sure was Charles or something of the like, had been stupefied by his own spell.

It was not really a wonder as Ron Weasley's reputation preceded him in most circles. He dodged his rebounded curses with ease and continued to fire until he realized how futile offensive magic was. Very few dark wizards would attack him solely and target his, now, legendary family directly after seeing him fight.

"Malfoy, what the bloody hell are you doing on our property?" One of the red headed dogs growled at him, the Charlie, after being brought back to consciousness.

He merely raised an eyebrow.

"I demand to speak with the Head of House." He commanded. He knew what he was doing was dangerous, _especially if Ginny doesn't get here soon._

"How the hell do you think you are-."

"Unless you wish to bring shame, disgrace and a blood feud upon your family's already damaged lineage, I suggest you go and retrieve your Head of House." The red head flinched.

He had knowledge of their family's shady and disgraceful tendencies and dealings. It was not too long ago, two or three centuries, that their family was one of the richest in the country, their dowries some of the highest, and their lineages one of the purest and lightest. All it took was one awkward incestuous scandal, a breach in marriage contract, and a century of ostracizing for the family to leave their grand manor (which is now a property owned by the Malfoy family) and move into this _house._

_Not to mention the recent disgrace of Bill Weasley's abuse of Harry Potter hit the family hard._

"Charlie, let him be." Ginny said approaching with Granger in tow.

Weasley ignored her and with Ronald both leveled their wands at Draco's heart. Draco almost shivered from the coldness in Ronald's eyes.

"I could kill you right now and call it self-defense Malfoy." He stated his theory as one would the weather.

Draco laughed slightly, despite his nervousness. "Weasley, you couldn't kill me if you tried."

Ginny raised an eyebrow and made to speak when the last two Weasleys bounded out of the house. Both of the parents looked at Draco in surprise as if they didn't know he was there.

_Don't these people have any monitoring wards?_

Draco expanded his aura and displayed the Lordship ring on his finger. A magical wind rustled his traditional Head of House robes.

"Weasley Sire, Madam." He inclined his head slightly in their directions as a show of power and to show them their position.

Ginny's eyes widened slightly due to his arrogant power play. He gave her a brief look. _Please, just play along._ Slowly, but not obvious to the others, she nodded swiftly.

"Lord Malfoy." Both parents said hesitantly, bowing lowly to him. He almost smiled at the look of astonishment on Weasley's face as his parents bowed to his nemesis.

"What the hell-." The red head began angrily.

Draco pointed to Ginny's ring. "I wish to discuss the dowry and contract between our houses." Hermione gasped.

"Malfoy, you're not backing out of your proposal are you?" She asked frightened.

_If she's acting, then she's a hell of an actress, if not, then I definitely miscalculated her level of intelligence._ He decided. One could never be sure with Granger, she knew too much and no one knew how much she knew.

"Of course not, that would be disastrous to their family. Despite how horribly they've treated me, I wouldn't do anything to hurt Ginny's loved one." That caused Weasley Sire to flinch.

He looked at his sons and frowned, most likely remembering well the scene from a few days past. "Lower your wands immediately, how dare you all shame me in public… again!" The men all went bright red and lowered their wands.

Draco released a breath that he did not know he had been holding in. _This is going better than planned._

A slightly awkward silence reigned. Draco was not sure how he should proceed as he hadn't really predicted this reaction. He took to examining the surrounding and house. He had never been this close to the Weasley property. Mrs. Weasley took a cue from her husband and invited Draco inside. He politely declined.

"I would rather discuss this matter on neutral grounds. I must be cautious security-wise as we have yet to consummate our bond within martial limits to secure offspring, and I am the last of my blood." Ginny blushed slightly at his hint of sex out of wedlock.

The bite at their family's inability to manage self-control and the mildly hidden reference to sex with Ginny seemed to be the last straw for Ronald. He cast a deadly castration curse at Draco, which was deflected by the wands of the house and rebounded back at Ronald.

The exchange happened so quickly that no one was prepared for it. Ronald jumped out of the way of his own curse, and it left a mere dint in the tree behind him.

Draco turned to Mr. Weasley in all seriousness. "Such a curse is not only illegal, but used against the Last of Line is against one of the most powerful of the Old Laws. For this attempt to make it impossible for me to generate offspring and save my family lineage, I, Lord Draco Lucius Malfoy Head of Malfoy Family, invoke the Old Magic to initiate a Blood Feud against the Weasley Clan."

Winds kicked up as Old Magic exploded in the area. Ron was lifted off of his feet. He tried every spell he knew, but nothing worked against the Old Magic that protected the Old Laws.

Mrs. Weasley cried softly on her husband's shoulder, and Mr. Weasley seemed resigned and dreading what Draco would unleash on their family for Ronald's actions.

Hermione put her hands over her mouth. "Draco, please don't-." He didn't pay her any mind.

"As compensation for the attempt to kill off my family's lineage, I will take Miss Ginevra Molly Weasley, the first female to be born into the Weasley clan for nine generations as my wife before these witnesses. She shall be no longer a Weasley but nameless, and from henceforth she will be known as Lady Ginevra Malfoy." The magic poured from Draco into Ginny, and he saw the tears of joy in her eyes as the Family Ring appeared next to her engagement ring on her finger.

She stepped forward to embrace him but he stopped her. He glared at Weasley, who was still fighting the magic in midair, "I call on the Clause of Retribution and implore that that which magic was to destroy my line is returned in full to he who perpetrated the dastard act."

The brothers all shouted at him and attempted to free Ron, who was screaming in agony and bleeding from his prison in the air.

Draco turned to the ashen Head of the Weasley Clan in all seriousness. "I hope the next generation of your House will be respectable." He gave a tight nod and walked away.

The Old Magic dispelled and Ronald fell to the ground behind him with a plop. Ginny gave her brother a last look of pity before hugging her father.

"What he did was lawful and right," she said slowly as she noticed him waiting for her in the Apparition Point. "I hope you will not take whatever hatred you have of him out on me and my future children."

Her father sighed as her mother scoffed and went to aid Ron. "My grandchildren will always have a place in my home, even if they are not my kin by right."

Ginny smiled and pointed to her stomach. "Good, because two of them are already on their way," her father's mouth dropped, "No, Draco does not know yet. I didn't know until yesterday."

He nodded stiffly and hugged her, not too strongly though. "May Merlin's powers grace you and your kin, Gi-_Lady_ Malfoy." He awkwardly corrected himself as he gave her the tradition blessings.

She smiled sadly. "The same to you, Sire Weasley," She gave Hermione a gesture that only the two of them seemed to understand before she ran off to join Draco who swiftly apparated them away to Ginny's new home.

"Ginny, I don't know how much more of them I can take." Hermione said as she and Ginny walked arm in arm on their way to the Great Hall.

Ginny frowned. _I'm such a horrible friend._ _I've spent the past two days enjoying myself with Draco and poor Hermione had to reap the repercussions of Ron's actions._

"Don't make that face. It's not your fault that Ron acted like the misbehaving child he is." She waved away Ginny's concerns with a small gesture with her hand.

Ginny shook her head in amazement. "Sometimes, Herm, you scare me with how well you read people."

Hermione shrugged. "It's a gift. We all have them."

As they rounded another corner, she drifted back to her previous topic. "I never thought I would say that I'm happy that Ron was… _emasculated_, but it was almost as if it took steam out of his engines. He's mellower and seems almost ashamed of his action." Ginny looked at her in surprise. "He wanted to be the one whose children bring glory and prestige back to the Weasley name, and now that he can't because of one stupid decision…not only is he not able to bring an heir to the family, but he brought even more shame upon the name. It's tearing him apart."

Ginny nodded. Charlie was rebuilding his relationship with the family after attempting to kill Harry and harming their mother, albeit under a slight Imperius Curse. As far as Ginny was aware, Charlie was not in any steady relationship. The twins did not want anything close to a steady relationship any time soon. Bill…

Ron would have been the first Weasley of their generation to secure a son in wedlock, if he had married Hermione and had children with her. He would have been the Head of House as Charlie and the twins definitely would have supported him.

"Hey," Hermione said interrupting the silence that embraced them, "if Harry and Bill had a child out of wedlock but married later, would Bill be the next Head of House?"

Ginny promptly stopped walking. _She has to be a Master Occulmens or something._

She coughed to hide her astonishment. "I suppose so. Bill is the oldest, and is the first to secure an heir. The only problem is that within the Weasley clan, the Head of House is also normally voted in by a majority of male votes, not merely assigned through fulfilled conditions."

Hermione nodded. "There's no way that will happen with the current issues."

They continued walking. As they reached the grand doors of the Great Hall, Hermione turned to her and squeezed her arm in reassurance. Ginny did not know she was nervous until then. It would be her first time facing the world as Lady Malfoy in traditional Malfoy jewels and robes.

She had fought tooth and nail with Draco, after snogging him blue once he showed her the Lady's Quarters and wardrobe during the tour of the manor, on what she would wear in public.

Malfoy Ladies, Mesdames, and Mistresses had been fashion setters, or revolutionaries, for centuries, and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black was no different though more elegant than most. She left hundreds of elegant pieces that were immediately being tailored for Ginny's use.

When Ginny told him that most of the things there were beautiful, but that she was not a show off type, he rounded on her about her duty to the world and to their name to be a fashion bug, basically everything she detested in most other women. She gave him an ear full about her body being her property. After an hour of arguing, and Draco's revelation of the many of other Lady wardrobes at other properties and in their vault at Gringotts, she realized how much it meant to him to see her in his mother's clothes. It was almost a tribute to her.

She promised that until she had gone through the wardrobes (with Hermione's pre-assumed aid) she would wear the clothes of the previous Lady Malfoy.

That left her in the pure white robe, dazzling green silk dress and emerald necklace which she was now wearing; all of which caught her eye the moment she looked at them. Her hair freshly curled and her nails freshly manicured by her elf court, she felt like a true Lady. Hermione nearly had a heart attack when she saw the bias-cut, backless silk dress.

As she thought more about her outfit, she turned to Hermione.

"I don't look over the top, do I?"

Hermione smirked, "Of course you look over the top; you are a Malfoy. You are supposed to look prefect or more than perfect. I thought you would have learned that by now."

Ginny punched her lightly in the arm. "You git! I was being serious."

"You look beautiful, my dear, obviously of course without the expensive clothing."

"Good, because I don't feel like _me_ for some reason," she sighed. She looked at her shiny, healthy looking nails that showed no sign of the years of nail biting, countless fights, and other unladylike things she put them through.

"You aren't you? You _were_ someone with a completely different name a few days ago, someone who paved their own way, but now you are Lady Malfoy with an image and centuries of rules and etiquette to follow. You could still be your old revolutionary self within the new high society," Hermione said wisely.

Ginny gave her a quick hug.

"Besides, if you were to get too big of a head, I'll be there to put you in your place."

Ginny smirked evilly, "You will also be my fashion consultant. I have a few jobs for you already, Granger." Hermione's eyes went wide in astonishment and a hint of fear.

"Please don't do that, I thought I was speaking with… _Lord Malfoy_!"

Ginny smirked and without a word, she turned and threw open the grand doors to the Great Hall. According to Hermione, the meeting had started at least ten minutes ago. She decided to follow Draco's one advice to her. _Malfoys are meant to be hated, envied and worship, you should make them want to. _As heads turned and mouths dropped, Ginny mentally smiled. She could get used to that.

As she neared an empty seat, several men jumped up simultaneously to pull out her chair. She smiled softly and allowed them to help her remove her white robe and scooted her chair to the table.

"My Lady," Moody said as he bowed once her chair was properly situated. She nodded politely.

"Thank you."

_I can definitely get used to this._

"Lady Malfoy, we are grateful that you managed to come when you should be enjoying and learning your new position." Dumbledore said standing and greeting her with a low bow.

She waved her hand as others, who had been glued to their seats as the men assisted her, began to stand. "Please. I'm still Ginny, just married."

She glanced briefly around the table at the looks of jealousy on the faces of many women present and the look of envy on the faces of the Dragon Haters, especially some members of her former family. Hermione swiftly took a seat next to her.

There was an awkward silence. She could hear the crackling of the fire in the torches with brought back testy memories from the last time Draco was in the room.

"So, Lord Dumbledore," She cleared her throat, "how goes the proposition?" Dumbledore raised a gray eyebrow. He clearly had not considered that to be the first thing to come out of her mouth.

"The Wizengemot stands at the moment in a half-half tie. Members opinions seem to waver daily," he paused and looked at her over his half-moon glasses. "They need a strong member to show them direction, whether or not it is for the proposition."

It was fairly obvious what, or rather _who_, he was hinting at, and Ginny was not sure how she felt about it.

She sighed. "I'll speak with my husband."

"And what will he be able to do, he has no power," Mrs. Weasley mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear but under the cover that only those around her could her.

Ginny did not respond despite the fact that she felt she should. Dumbledore gave a response in her place.

"Lord Malfoy's priority within the Order keeps escalating. It is not only crucial that we have his help to find Harry, but also to assure that once he is here, he will not be hunted down like a common criminal."

"Once he assumes his seat in the Wizengemot, his family's influence will have much sway power over how the Wizengemot rules on the proposition." Hermione clarified aloud for herself. "Where is he now? Is there some way to contact him and have him-."

"He's taking care of family business, but he mentioned that he will stop by as soon as he could," Ginny finished tritely. She was getting more and more irritated by their "Draco will do everything" routine.

"I think he's too coward to show his face after what he did to Ron, and after that article that he allowed to be printed in the Prophet," her mom said.

It took all of the self control she had to not yell in response. "He did not voluntarily give the interview," she said, "He also did not do anything that anyone else would not have done in his position."

"It was not necessary to print our personal family matters in the PAPER, Gineva!" Her mother yelled standing up.

Ginny gripped the table in front of her until her fingers were white. Through clenched teeth she spoke, "It's the law. Whenever Old Magic is used or Old Laws are broken the perpetrator is to be declare-."

"Could you two please stop?" Ron said solemnly from his seat, "I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to." He gave Ginny such an apologetic look that made her want to hug him.

Her mother did not a second telling. Ginny glanced slightly at Hermione who raised her eyebrow as if to say "do you see what I mean".

The meeting continued without much news or developments. There were issues in security due to the fresh increase in dark activity and attacks on those close to Harry. The request to increase the wards on those closest to Harry and station an Order member at each house if possible was not fought. Ginny voiced her opinion that once Harry's closest friends were secured, the dark wizards would merely move on to other targets.

"It's the most logical thing to do. Harry would save a stranger just as quickly as he would save a friend," Hermione said. "There aren't enough of us to save everyone."

"Is it possible," began Professor McGonagall, "that Mr. Potter would simple attempt to help as he did when you were under attack?"

"I don't be-." Ginny began. She was interrupted by the sudden arrival a Patronus.

She jumped out of her seat as she easily recognized the beautiful eagle Patronus that only Draco conjured. It landed right before her.

"Attack at Harry's family's house."

She was out the door with several others on her heels before the Patronus began to dissolve.

* * *

Yup. it's good to be back. sorry for the looooooooooooooong wait everyone. Read and Review. I'm figuring out where I want to go with this story. I'm aware that there was a different chapter 5, but I like this one more. The other will be used as well :) Until next week


	6. On Privet Drive

_**The Return**_

_**Though everyone searched and no body was found, a riddle, a Weasley, and steadfast conviction leads to an eye opening revelation. Sequel to In the Midst of it all.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, sadly.**_

Bill grumbled angrily under his breath as he sat hunched over a pillow on his bed. He wondered how much more he would have to suffer and endure before he reverted to a less sane, stable mentality.

It was simply disgusting how much he had to stomach just because of his status in the Wizarding World. Everywhere and to everyone, he was the "Abuser", the "Betrayer", or the "Killer". It was a miserable status. He could not help but to think that it was all a bit extreme. Of course, he could have done everything _quite_ a bit differently back when he was with Harry. _But there is nothing I can change about that now._

He winced as he heard the crash of something else precious to him somewhere else in the house be destroyed by mindless and ruthless Aurors. He gripped the pillow a little harder than necessary before flinging it at the wall. He put his head in his hands, distraught.

_When will this just be over._

Following Malfoy's recent blunder with Daily Prophet, the Ministry had taken to futilely searching for traces of Harry everywhere, included Bill's cottage.

Bill could not help but wonder if the Ministry and Dumbledore were erring in how they went about with the information that Harry is, or "could be" as far as the Ministry knew, alive.

It was not the case that Bill did not want Harry to be found, though his heart felt as if it were being squeezed like a lemon every time he thought about Harry returning. He merely feared that Harry might not want to be found and that by translating and solving the Gods' riddle, they were taking away some of his personal peace time. _With our baby._

Bill drifted aimlessly through his cottage fixing and rearranging things that the careless Ministry officials touched or damaged in their barbaric raid-like search.

He wondered how and where Harry gave birth. There were few places in the world where pregnant men could give birth without the public knowing, as such a birth is rare due to the stress on the baby, the body of the male, and the magic needed to ensure a safe birth. In the past fifty years, there had only been twenty-one cases of male pregnancies, thirteen of whom survived. Each case was documented completely.

_There is no way he could have given birth without a Midwife or a Healer helping him._

Bill thoughts turned suddenly to the baby.

He wondered if the baby survived the pregnancy. His mind clouded with possible complications Harry and the baby could have had. He then rememebered the small, baby-sized pair of sandals in the garden, and he calmed slightly.

_I wonder if I'll ever get to see the like tyke._

Days like this one made him miss Harry the most. He just wanted to see him, and to see the baby, just to make sure that they are all right and lay eyes on his child for the first time. He didn't think Harry would be so cruel as to keep him from his own flesh and blood. He accepted the reality that Harry considered him a threat to the baby and to Harry himself.

He sighed as he heard another crash.

He missed Harry also because Harry would not stand back and let them rampage through his cottage, he would also not let them disrupt the order that he had managed to build and maintain at the cottage in the small frame of time he had spent there. Bill, sadly, had no choice but to allow them to do what they want.

_Merlin knows what he would have done to them!_ A few imaginative scenarios flew through his mind, sparking the essence of a smile on his lips.

A loud crack from the front of the house wiped the wispy smile away as quickly as it had arrived. There were a few raised voices and a scurrying of feet towards the kitchen. _Someone must have managed to find something suspicious__._ He sighed

The Ministry considered Bill's cottage to be a gold mine, un centre d'importance. Because of Harry's past presence there, they assumed they could pull up some trace, some clue, something use in their "new" investigation. When he approached the Head Auror regarding the subject, he was merely told to be patient and that it would be over soon.

_That was over three hours ago._

"No!" Bill yelled jumping up from the seat he had barely occupied for ten seconds. He almost reached the stupid Auror who had been "inspecting" his priceless and highly dangerous Eye of Ra, but he was not quick enough.

The man screamed bloody murder as if someone was simultaneously gouging out his eyes and Crucioing him simultaneously.

_Weakling! When Harry touched it, he at least managed to-._

Bill sighed as the other Aurors looked on in fear and suspicion with their wands trained on Bill, though they did nothing to help their fallen comrade who was floundering on the floor as a live fish would on a hot, oiled skillet.

Bill bound the man and touched the fiery medallion that what burning into the man's hand with his wand. It stopped glowing like freshly spewed blood and returned to a golden, red color. He walked over the fallen official shaking his head slightly, banishing the mysterious smelly, yellow puddle away, and replacing the ornament on the shelf where it had stood undisturbed for years. _Only Harry and this idiot have moved it without needing it._

_At least Harry had…_

To be honest, Bill still did not know what Harry had done to the Eye. It normally caused people horrendous amounts of pain. Bill was still researching its power. It had been used by some pharaoh wizards to store the power from their predecessors for themselves and their successors. But that did nothing to explain how he found the medallion _absorbing_ into Harry's skin._It was almost as it Harry was the rightful heir of the object or had some claim to it at least__._

Bill shook his head. He knew that was not a possibility. Yet, over that past few weeks, the thought had entered his head. Besides, with Harry, everything was possible.

The other Aurors had long since revived their fallen comrade and carried on, albeit with precaution, after watching the sad episode that had taken place.

The need to consume some strong beverage overcame Bill. He went to kitchen and fixed himself something to drink.

The kitchen had changed very little since the last time both he and Harry were both in there. A thick layer of dust or grime covered almost everything now, but everything was still in its rightful, Harry given, place. His hand tingled slightly as the memory of the last encounter in kitchen burned like lava through him. He slammed the hand down on the counter, and a small cloud of dust rose as if to avenge the counter.

A tiny lay of dust covered most of the cooking and eating surfaces. Bill had not felt the need to do either in the kitchen since he hit-.

He took a gulp of the red liquor in his glass. It burned unbelievably, making his eyes water and his nose run slightly. He did not like the taste of alcohol, especially this brand. The very fact that it burned so much should have diminished the enthusiasm he had for it. It was practically self-punishment. Sometimes the pain of where his life was, and was going to, hurt so much that in order to quall the pain, he had to counter it with more.

"Wotcher Bill. A sickle for your thoughts," Tonks' voice startled him out of his sore thoughts. He clutched his glass a bit harder than normal, and his knuckles turned white marble. _Should I ignore it or should I just-._ "You look like you are taking a hard walk down memory lane."

"It's… difficult." He said pathetically. It was cheapest way to say what he felt. There were millions of unnamed, indescribable emotions soaring in his blood, making him sweat, his breath catch, and his heart race unbelievably.

Tonks slid into his peripheral view. She leaned against the island in the middle of the kitchen. She swiped a finger across the counter and frowned. She murmured something under her breath. She attempted to spell the dust and particles away and came up naught.

Bill sighed and turned away to put his glass on the counter.

"Harry did everything by hand. Somehow he made pretty much everything in here magic resistant, so you can't just spell the dust away." He took another sip, no longer enjoying the self-harm. "So typical him, do it his way or no way!"

For a moment she said nothing, the only sounds were those made by the Ministry officials.

"You love him still." She simply stated what she assumed. She seemed to have originally wanted to ask it as a question. _I don't think I ever stopped._

"And you miss him" Her voice seemed to soften the blow of her words._I do._

He continued to gaze at the ground. "You want him back as much as- perhaps even more than- we do." She continued with her aggressive understanding.

Bill blinked back tears. _What the bloody hell! Why am I getting emotional?_

Tonks took a cautious step forward. Bill put a hand out to stop the much needed but unwanted comfort.

"Why do you care, Tonks! You were the first to hate our relationship." Bill blurted without thinking twice.

Tonks blinked twice before cocking her head to the side slightly. "I thought that was all an act?"

With the wind out of his sails, Bill sighed again. "Still…"

There was a creeping silence that was broken again on intervals by rummaging in other rooms of the house. Tonks had long since found a spot on the floor interesting, and Bill had taking to staring out of the window into the garden.

The garden was completely empty. For some reason, the terrace door forbad entrance to everyone except Bill. Even Dumbledore was not allowed in a second time. Whenever someone tried to get in, they were repelled back with such force that three wizards had to be sent to St. Mungos in critical condition

Tonks looked up suddenly, obviously wanting to break the silence. "Do you think we will find him? I mean this riddle thing is hard, but we can figure it out without Malfoy, Ginny, and the others, right?"

"Draco is, according to Dumbledore," who had also warned him in the same letter that Ministry officials would be at his cottage today, "willing to assist under certain conditions. We are supposed to be discussing the matter today at the meeting."

"That's great! I'm sure Harry will be happy to be back. Do you think we will find him all right?"

Bill saw in her face the hopeful, eager, almost innocent and naïve look that had been plastered on the faces of most of the Order members searching for Harry. They all wanted him back so they can have a godly figure to idolize and worship and go to for advice for all of their problems.

_They just don't get it. He is still- albeit somewhat- human and has feeling. He does not want all of the attention the Order and the rest of the Wizarding World want to thrust upon him. He just wants/wanted to be Harry. Simply Harry._

Bill shook his head softly. "I think you are asking the wrong questions." He refilled his glass with water. "Of course, I think we can find him. The question is: does he want to be found?"

Tonks' eyebrows furrowed deeply as if he has spoken in a different tongue. "Why would he not want to be found? His home is here; it's all that he kno-."

Bill had to interrupt her. He heard no more rummaging in the house. _They must be listening._

"He was a muggle with no knowledge of the Wizarding World until he got here. _That_ was all he had known."

Tonks shook her head angrily. "That may be so, but he has accomplished so much here. He can't just leave it all behind." _Says who._

Bill put his half full glass down. "He also suffered much here in the Wizarding World. He's watched loved ones struggle, be tortured, and die. He has also gone through the same things himself." He suddenly lost the will to speak. It hurt simply too much.

There was a sudden rush of magic in the air. Bill started out of the kitchen instantly. His fireplace was ablaze with green flames. The Aurors had their wands trained on the fire. Attacks by dark wizards in the last days on those who knew Harry had left everyone on the edge.

A distressed, yet familiar, face loomed into view. Bill recognized his old cursebreaker companion, Markus Landis. They had worked together since Bill joined the team, and together they had unearthed some of the most precious and important findings of their time.

"Bill Weasley! I don't care if you are undressed, unconscious, or still in your goddamned depression, I'm coming through this Floo whether you let me or not!" Bill hid his surprise and cast a meaningful look at the Aurors

The fire died. The Aurors, who had been doing absolutely nothing when he came back into the room but idling and spying, made a hasty departure. Tonks gave Bill a long look before she left as if saying that their conversation had not yet reached an end. _I'll be happy to continue that discussion tonight at the meeting__._

"_Bill_!" Bill jumped before turning and meeting his American guest face to face. He had not noticed that the fire had flared back to life in the time that he stayed staring at the door the others had departed from.

"I'm still able to hear just as well as before, Rara." Bill said, using Markus' nickname amicably. His voice strained only in the slightest. Rara raised a brown eyebrow slowly.

He surprisingly made no comment on the stress in Bill's voice. "Your guests left rather quickly." He said picking up the Eye of Ra with the tip of his wand and examining it.

"Yeah, well they-." He jumped as the Eye was slammed onto the mantle.

"Why are you doing this to yourself? This damn isolation, seclusion, and punishment need to end! A few tombs in our sector have been spotted. We've been struggling for months! We need you. We've sent you owl after owl: they are always returned. I've tried using the Floo; it's blocked. I had to threaten each and every person in the Floo sector of this country's damned Department of Magical Transportation to get your-."

Bill turned and walked into the kitchen. He heard Rara's astonished and indignant stuttering in the living room. As he put the glass in the sink, he heard footsteps following him.

"Bill Weasley, you did not just walk away from me." He said in a dangerous tone.

"Yes, I did." Bill said slowly, as if explaining a simple problem to a difficult child. "Did it not cross your mind that I have might have been trying to get the old job back after being permanently let go, or new jobs for that fact over the past few months?"

Rara frowned deeply. "I didn't consider that." He replied calmly, as if trying not to show too much emotion. "Why would the bosses not tell us that they had let you go permanently?"

"Because they have this huge phobia of mentioning my name, I think they figure every time my name is spoken they lose money."

"And the band of idiots who just left?" Rara asked after a moment of silence.

"Trying to comb out any trace and trail that might lead them to Harry."

Rara swore under his breath, "Fucking faggots." He then seemed to realize who was in the room with him, and the sexual orientation of the person in the room with him, "Oh shit, I didn't mean it like that, you know."

Bill only smiled and nodded.

Rara was not radically homophobic just brought up to be extreme masculine. His father had been a dark wizard of some sorts in America who believed it was all of the same sex couples who were diluting and ruining the magical lineages. The man took to terrorizing and, in some extreme cases, partook in harming and murdering same sex Wizarding couples.

Rara did not take after his father's rhetoric. He did explain once he found out Bill's preference that he considered homosexuality unnatural but tried to accept people for who they were. When he had been around Bill, though they had shared close quarters with each other and knew each other very well, he went out of his way to show his heterosexuality. He never touched, never showed the fact he cared about Bill more than he would a brother, and never even hinted at Bill's sexuality after the revelation.

On the other hand, he took after his father in that he was deadly loyal and protective. If any guy even looked at Bill in the wrong way, the crazy, tanned American was there in a flash, usually breaking someone's nose or bones.

"You know, the team was wondering if you had abandoned us." He scowled slightly, "I took care of some of the disbelievers." Bill watched him as he cracked his knuckles without him noticing he was doing so.

"Why are you just now getting here?" Bill asked confused. "If you have been trying so hard to contact me for the last year and some odd months, you would have gotten here a long time ago!"

Rara scratched his forehead, one of his habits. He gave a sly smile. "I'm been really busy lately. You know how the job is. Plus, I'm settled in now. I got a wife and three little girls at home." He was positively beaming by the time he finished his short narrative. Bill was smiling too.

"Really! That's great! Who's the lucky girl?" If possible, Rara's smile got broader.

"Well you should remember her. You told me to stop acting 'macho' and tell her how I felt around her. I followed your advice and voila!" He said showing off his wedding band.

Bill looked at it appraisingly. "Congratut-. Wait." He took a step back in disbelief as a memory crashed into his skull. "Sheila. As in the world-fashion leader? The international supermodel!" Rara nodded happily. "You didn't!"

"We did. She had triplets a month ago! You are now a godfather, three times over! I hope you're ready to babysit. Sheila is already on her last nerve balancing the girls and trying to work off her baby-weight." He joked. "Besides, she wants to meet the infamous Bill Weasley, the gay guy who got me to open up to her."

"Gladly!" Bill gasped. He was speechless. He shook his head. "Congratulations!" He held out his hand to shake.

The fact that Rara normally would not speak about his sexuality entered his mind two seconds after he stuck his hand out. He made to withdraw the hand, but Rara grabbed the hand along with Bill and pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Thanks man for what you did!" Rara murmured into his shoulder. "I didn't know what I was missing until I had Shelia…" He gave Bill a few pats on the back before he withdrew and fixed himself a drink.

Bill stood remained where he was, a pillar of complete shock. He barely blinked for a whole minute before shaking his head as if to make sense of everything. _Maybe there is no logical explanation… Love moves people to do extraordinary things._

He smiled simply and poured himself a glass of water. "You still chuggin' water, Bill! You just don't change!" Rara walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

Bill sat on the love seat facing the couch and waited for a sign to talk. Though neither one of them talked, there was no awkwardness between the two of them. They had done it many times before, especially when they were in the midst of some grand puzzle that they had to solve. Both of them would sit in their own little corners, contemplate, and plan their collective next move. No matter how silent they were, their plans usually turned out the same or compatible with one another.

Not one of them was planning anything at the moment, but the situation still remained the same.

Rara took a large swig of his drink and sat it on the table. He chuckled softly. "It's funny how it works out. I don't know how many times we've sat together over a few beers and discussed how we were never going to settle down."

"And _I_ remember the promises that we made that if we did settle down, it would only be for someone perfect…" Bill felt something stinging in the back of his throat, almost as if the emotions were attempting to burn their way out of him by means of his esophagus.

Rara gave him a sharp look. "I got the Girl-Who-Walked-Runways, and you got the Boy-Who-Lived- Twice…" Bill twitched involuntarily.

Bill exhaled softly. He knew where this was going. "What's the story?" Rara asked softly.

Bill took a deep, shuddering breath and told the _whole_ story. As troubled as he was at the moment, telling Rara the entire story seemed to take a leaden weight off of his shoulders. He looked down at the carpet at several times, especially when he spoke of his stubbornness. Rara made only one or two comments during the narration. He told Bill of what he had heard from the American tabloids.

"So you really did hit him?" Rara asked as if he could not fathom Bill does something so horrible.

"Yeah." Bill said. He could and would not make an excuse for himself.

"Wow, I thought they made that up." He took as sip from his drink and said no more. Bill assumed that was his cue to continue. Taking another deep breath, he did.

As he arrived at the Final Battle, Rara told him to stop. "I need another drink- skip it. Just give me the entire bottle!" He accioed the bottle to him. "Bill did it never cross your mind how important this would be for our work!"

Bill was momentarily taken out of his wits. "Huh?"

"This object that they have to find is definitely not the only one of its kind. If we were to find another one…" His eyes read off money signs. "Hell, if we could just find it and study it."

"I never had the chance to think about it." Bill huffed slightly.

Rara nodded understandingly. "I know. I know, but still… Wow. And you had them in your head too, the gods!" He grinned jealously. "Awesome!"

Bill could not help but smile as well.

He finished with the story, ending on the morose note of Fawkes flying off with the wands.

Rara had a very familiar, irritating look in his eye. It was the look he got whenever a confusing puzzle, to unravel was giving to him. _He's found a new puzzle in Harry._

"Have you guys found the wands?" He asked putting his hands together. If Bill suspected correctly, Rara's palms were probably sweating and twitching. Those were his typical symptoms of excitement.

Bill had to think for a moment. He did not remember a conversation ever taken place that said the two wands were found. He told Rara that.

If possible, Rara's eyes went brighter and wider. "This is awesome!" He was barely rooted in his seat anymore.

"How?" Bill asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Don't you see!" He gestured to the room as if there was something Bill was supposed to physically see. "The phoenix's flight proves that the wands were still needed somewhere, most likely by Harry Potter himself!"

Bill was even more confused, even though he felt his heart beat increase. "But- but-."

"Have you guys ever searched for the wands?" He stood up, his body no longer able to be contained in the seat.

_No._ "There was no need to. Fawkes flew away in mourning. We assumed that he was going to bury them or hide them."

Rara, who had been actively pacing for the past twenty seconds, stopped moving suddenly and gave Bill a piercing stare than made his mouth go dry. "Who's to say what the bird was mourning about or that ? Can any of you speak with it?"

"He's Dumbledore's phoenix."

"So the Great Dumbledore can speak _Phoenix_ now!" Rara's dislike of Albus Dumbledore was a shaky subject whenever the name was mentioned. It was Rara's great-grandfather who Dumbledore supposedly "used" to get his twelve uses for dragon blood as the man had been a dragon tamer.

It was a deep blooded hatred. _At least from Rara's side!_

"The bird gave the feathers that made the wands. It's only natural that it would take the wands back when both of the wand owners die and don't need them anymore."

Rara clicked his tongue in response.

"And, I don't think Dumbledore can speak Phoenix, at least not that I know of. You know that bonded familiars speak with their bonded through other means." He bit his lip nervously knowing that even though the mental connection bonded the two, it never allowed for telepathic communication. It was more of a feeling connection. The one could _sense_ what the other thought or felt.

Rara did not bother to respond. He merely rolled his eyes. "You are thinking about it though, aren't you?" He did not hide the smile that stretched cat-like over his face. "There is more to this story than you all figured out through your assumptions and the evidence from your investigations."

Bill opened his mouth and asked the dumbest question that had ever passed his lips. "Why are you so interested in this?" He sighed right after that blasted phrase left his lips.

He listened to a twenty-two minute rant about Greek gods and their important to civilization. He merely sat through it all with a hollow pit growing in the bottom of his stomach. He frowned. It gave him a bad sensation, but he knew it was probably the alcohol.

"Damn, Bill! I never expected you to fall so out of interest in your work." He said at the end of his tirade.

He painfully swallowed the retort that bounced on his tongue. "It has been a while since, you know."

"Bill, this is what we do! We find these types of cases, and we ripe them to shreds like wards. You have here Greek gods _actively_ participating in mortal matters. Something that is so rarely documented in history that it's considered a myth, and you also have clues to lead you to the source!" He smiled. "Tell me that doesn't give you a boner for just thinking about it."

"You can rub one off later if you want, but-."

Both he and Rara jumped suddenly behind the couch in defensive poses. A corporal Patronus vulture burst through the front door.

It crossed Bill's mind briefly, that there had been an Order meeting tonight and that he had missed it. The Patronus, he decided, had been sent to tell him to come as the assumed the Ministry search party was over and they wanted to discuss something with him.

"The Dursleys under attack, all help needed."

It took a moment for Bill's mind to wrap around the unexpected message. He had been expecting something pertaining directly to the Order.

"Bill! _BILL!_"

He didn't come to his senses until he realized that Rara was pulling him out of the cottage moments later.

As he began to run to match Rara's pace towards the Apparation Point closest to his cottage he fingered his wand absently in his pocket.

"You're coming with?" Bill asked confused.

"Yes, Mr. Obvious, I refuse to let you have all the excitement while I go home and handle four screaming women."

Distantly, Bill registered what Rara said and formulated a question without thinking about it.

"You don't know where the Dursleys live."

Suddenly, he felt the feeling of forced apparation, and heard Rara's laughter in his ears

The surprise of Rara side-apparating him directly to the Apparation Point closest to Number 4 Privet Drive was crushed by the sight of the battlefield that awaited them. Rara stopped laughing immediately.

Rara let Bill's arm go in surprise.

"Holy fuck."

Muggles were running around screaming, some already cursed and some being struck by stray curses from both the Dark wizards and the Order members. Dead muggles and wizards lay scattered unceremoniously on the ground.

In the middle of the battle, he could make out several Order members fighting for their lives against Dark wizards who obviously knew what they were doing. He could make out Draco and Ginny fighting back-to-back like professional duelers. They spun, jumped and cast in unison, almost as one.

Dumbledore was also easy to make out as he battled his way through the outer rims of the battle. He fought the daring Dark wizards who jumped in his path and also attempted to fix the damage done by the Dark wizards to the muggles.

Rara grabbed him suddenly. He almost protested, but as Rara pulled him roughly to the side, the muggle transport device behind them was hit with a spell and exploded.

He did not have time to thank his friend as he was already off, fighting the Dark wizard who initially tried to kill them.

Bill's wand was warm in his hand, and a shield surrounded him before he even registered his actions. A Dark wizard appeared suddenly in front of him. Bill wasted no time and beheaded the wizard. He did not wait to see the face of the Dark wizard and soon ran towards the battle slinging curses and spells in all directions.

The Dark wizards, in contrast to the Death Eaters, who got their kicks off the theatrical effects of their outfits, wore normal Wizarding robes without masks. The only distinction that separated them from the Death Eaters was the blurred faces and hidden magical signatures through heavy magic that kept their identity safe.

Bill was careful with which spells he used as it was possible that he accidentally hit another Order member. He sent one of the Dark wizards flying into one of his comrades with such speed that he was sure neither would survive.

_Bloody bastards keep coming._ Another group of Dark wizards apparated onto the street, beyond the wards.

Bill crossed quickly to the end of the Anti-Apparation wards after the new arrivals joined the fight and cleared out of the area he needed to occupy. He did a quick scan of the wards and found them powered tremendously. It would be impossible to extend or break them.

He looked to his left and saw Dumbledore making the same motions with his wand that Bill had just made. Dumbledore made contact with him and shook his head quickly. Bill could see the beads of sweat on the man's forehead even from such a distance.

_Who powered these wards so that even Albus Dumbledore can't even manipulate them?_ The answer hit him before he was finished with the question.

He turned to head back into the battle. He searched from Rara and, once he found him, headed in his direction.

Rara was seemingly enjoying an intense one-on-one with a very powerful Dark wizard. Those around him paused to observe the American weave spells and enchantments that he was taught by Chinese mages with the dark magic he learned as a child from his father.

"Bill! Look out!" A voice cried out from behind him.

Bill's natural reflex was to turn around and see who called him. He was almost able to complete a protection spell before he was blasted off his feet by the combined spell work of a spell from the wizard he was fighting at the moment and also from a spell from a dark wizard. He felt as if he had been hit in the stomach by a dragon flying full force.

The impact had tossed him several yards through the air.

He saw stars as he hit the ground head first. He was sure several bones cracked as he hit the ground. His protection spell cushioned the blow and kept it from causing fatal damage but the pain was momentarily blinding.

The world spun before his eyes as he tried to sit up. He mentally thanks the gods that the spells cast were not harmful or deadly.

As he felt himself slowly become aware of his surroundings, he realized how he had been thrown out of the middle of the fighting right onto the Dursley's steps.

"Let ME GO, you bloody freak!" screamed a man's voice from inside the house. In the back of his mind, Bill recognized the voice of Harry's uncle. "The bobbies will be here any min-."

A chilling voice interrupted him, "Shut up, you disgusting rodent." He heard several voices scream Silencio.

"Just off him and take the others. Potter couldn't stay hidden if one of his relatives died. He'd be too pissed," said another voice.

Bill pushed the door open slightly to peek into the house. He casted a look behind him at the wizards fighting in the middle of the street, no one noticed him or looked his way.

"Are we going to wait here for the bastard to come and save his family or are we going to get the hell out of here?"

The voice stirred Bill out of whatever trance he had been in. His searched quickly for his wand and noticed it several feet away in the middle of the flower beds lining the walk path.

He swore under his breath. He didn't want to move too much and bring too much attention to himself, but he realized that he did need his wand in order to help Harry's family.

_It's the least I could do, for him._

He quickly considered the pros and cons of two plans, quickly getting his wand and attracting unwanted eyes or slowly going after it and not attracting the eyes but risking missing the opportunity to help and protect anyone including himself.

"Where's the other one?" Someone said as he edged slowly towards the flower beds, keeping an eye trained on the battle before him. Several more Dark wizards had joined the fight, Apparating in just as the others had done. He could also see Rara slicing his way, literally, through the Dark wizards to get to Bill.

"Where is who?"

"The muggle bitch, the wife, where is-."

Bill and everyone else in the area jumped as they heard the loud shots whose echoes rang in the air mixing with the fear and the confusion of some wizards present.

Bill reached his wand just as Rara reached him and Petunia Dursley flew out of the house screaming and crying. In her hand was a muggle pistol, a fairly large one that seemed outrageously out of place in her hands.

She shook from head to foot and was a pale as a ghost. She fired on the nearest Dark wizards with surprising accuracy. The street watched in as four Dark wizards fell to Petunia Dursley's weapon.

Other Dark wizards turned their attention upon her and collectively fired an endless number of curses at the woman. Bill reacted, conjuring up a shield, but most of the spells were too strong and merely passed through his shield, over powering it.

Bill's heart sake as he watched the spells reach their target.

_I've failed him once again…_

He turned away, not wanted to see what remained of Petunia Dursley.

BANG BANG BANG BANG

For more shots suddenly burst through the air. Bill turned in amazement and his mouth, along with several others' dropped in awe. Mrs. Dursley stood just as she did moments before. She still cried but stood a bit straighter now with a bright aura surrounded her like an impervious bubble of magic.

_How did she-._

Suddenly the protective magic around her flashed bright red. Bill was once again thrown through the air this time by the shockwave of power, very familiar power, that ricocheted off of the woman.

Spells, most likely the ones that had been sent at her and hit her, were sent back to those who sent them magnified in power. Bill nearly dropped his wand in surprise.

_He's here?_

He could feel Harry's magic, but something told him that Harry was not there. The surprise on Mrs. Dursley's face was also a sign that she did not have any clue what just happened to her either. The confusion faded away quickly to anger and she opened fire again on the Dark wizards.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

Five more fell to her weapon and he Dark wizards had had enough. A muggle woman, seemingly single-handedly, had put a rather large dent in their numbers. Those who were able to flee quickly did so.

Several Order members shouted in celebration, but they soon realized that there was little to be celebrated as they became more aware of the carnage from the fight. Muggles who had seen the fight and who had naturally been scared out of their minds watched from their windows or doors, or were still fleeing from the scene. Dumbledore's damage control had not been a hundred percent thorough

The pistol in Petunia Dursley's hand slipped and fell out of her hands as she sank to her knees crying.

"My boys – gone."

She saw Bill and immediately threw herself at him causing him to wince. He was sure that she had not recognized him, more likely just had jumped into the nearest arms, otherwise she would not have sought him out to comfort her. She probably would have shot him too if she remember was he did to Harry

Rara approach them just as Bill slowly wrapped his arms around the woman. "Bill, you should probably get her out of her-."

Moving with lightening speed, Rara broke off mid-sentence and threw a shield around them. Seconds afterwards, Number 4 Privet Drive exploded in an array of fire and flying debris.

Petunia gasped just as other muggles on the block screamed as she turned and saw the destruction of her house.

Order members who were Aurors began bustling about to control the muggles, wipe their memories, and a lot to contain the fire. Rara left Bill, after fixing his arm and ribcage and making sure that he was in good condition to help them. As cursebreakers, it was required that they completed similar training as Aurors.

Bill sat there on the ground holding Petunia until the Aurors came. He could still feel Harry's magic lingering around her, and it comforted them both.

Soooo. I need suggestions for Bill and Harry's baby's gender and name! R&R


	7. Attack! Surprise!

Hot beads of sweat burned Bill's eyes as they trickled from his brow down into his blue eyes. The fury powering the spell pouring from his wand burned the very wood clasped so tightly between his fingers. He could see the dread and confusion etching their way onto the faces and defense stances of his opponents. His leg-weakening curse had met their more malicious curses halfway and was steadily pushing them back on their casters.

The prospect of victory surged through him, boosting the amount of power in his spell even more. It gave him more time to consider what he would do next.

He prepared to drop his leg-weakening curse to whip a destructive splinching curse onto his two opponent before he was viciously bludgeoned in the side and sent flying into a china cabinet in the Dursley's sitting room. A quick healing charm flew from his tired wand and, before it had managed to pull the fatal amount of glass out of his body, he threw a ridiculously strong banishing curse that surprisingly and successfully decapitated his two assailants.

He wheeled around away from the disgustingly gory sight, casting more simple healing charms on his person, and observed the bloody battlefield that was destroying the once unnaturally tidy and clean house. Dark wizards fought like savages, he noted with a grimace. The Ministry officials, who had noticed the enormous amount of magic being used in a muggle neighborhood, had been barbarically chopped down. Those who were still fighting were either very lucky or very experienced.

_I don't which category I fall under in this situation_, Bill asked himself. He leaned more towards the lucky and desperate side. Draco Malfoy, who surprisingly was the first person Bill was acquainted with on the scene, however fought the dark wizards like a veteran Auror.

As he stood admiring the blonde's impressive fighting techniques something heavy barreled right into him, knocking him to the floor and the air out of his lungs. His head swam slightly, and he was barely able to register the dark wizard's wand pointed at his throat before the heavy man shriek in agony. His body constricted in the most unnatural way. Bill could hear several bones cracking and breaking in the man's body as he convulsed and screamed on top of him.

He gave the man a mighty shove and decided to let him suffer rather than kill him and spare him a painful last few minutes. He stepped quickly on the man's wand and limped around his twisting form. He sent Malfoy, who had cast the dark spell and thus quite likely saved Bill's life, a quick nod of thanks before he moved on to find the muggle residents of the house.

Malfoy had just arrived at his cottage when Bill received the message that an attack was underway. He told Bill that he was there to "mend the relationship between their houses." Bill was still unsure how Malfoy wished to accomplish that with the most loathed man in the wizarding world, who was as good as disowned from his own family.

Bill's heart skipped as he passed two fallen Aurors on the stairs leading to the second floor of the house. He had known the two men from their time at Hog. _Two of the brightest in their class, what a waste of life and talent!_ He bent down quickly to close their lifeless eyes.

He still clutched the message that he found on the counter in his kitchen as he went to offer tea to Malfoy, the message that _he_ wrote. He hadn't known when _he _wrote it or how he got it into Bill's cottage without him knowing, but he and Malfoy decided to not waste anytime trying to figure out Harry's stealth methods.

_Why me though_? Bill weighed the reasons why Harry chose to send him a message and not directly inform the Order or the Ministry. _They would all end up coming soon enough_. He heard Malfoy conjure his patronus as he reached the top of the stairs, and decided that by following the sounds of louds noises and voices on the second floor of the house, he would be bound to find the Harry's muggle relatives and insure their safety as the note asked.

_Attack at my aunt's. Please help if you can._ That was all written on the note.

His thoughts drifted back to Harry's motives, and he knew that Harry was not ready to reveal himself to the wizarding world yet, but he could have definitely taken care of the problem without Malfoy or Bill.

In quick succession, three loud pops sounded from the room on the farthest end of the hall in front of him and were followed by silence.

_Oh shit_.

Bill quickly made his way to the room and threw open the door with haste. He threw himself to the floor as something flew over his head, immediately followed by a woman's shriek. With him on the floor lie two bleeding male bodies, one with only half of a face and the other with two bloodied holes in his chest.

Bill raised his hands in submission before Harry's aunt who pointed a metallic object at him. He struggled briefly to remember her name along with the name of the weapon she had shakily trained on him.

"You?" She practically growled from her corner beside the bed, the only whole piece of furniture in the room. "Of all the wizards he could send to help me, he sends the one who caused him the most pain."

Bill sighed slightly. He did not expect a different greeting. The woman suddenly pointed the object in her hand more steadily at him, and he immediately ducked once more. The bang rattled him to the bones and behind him another body fell to the ground. Bill didn't bother to turn around to see the newest edition to the dead men's club on the floor.

"That's three that I've killed. I've killed three men. I never thought-." She interrupted herself by dropping the metal object and then jumping at the bang it made.

Bill quickly stood guard over the door and the now empty hallway. He felt the woman approaching him slowly from behind before he saw her on his side.

"You would do anything for him, wouldn't you?" She asked him quietly. Bill furrowed his brow in confusion. "Even risking your life for his muggle aunt?"

His answer was quick and honest. "That and more." She nodded slowly in understanding

"He said you would say that." She shook her head. "Him choosing you makes more sense now despite..." She drifted off.

The noises from the fighting below increased significantly, drawing both of their attention, and brought her out of her reprieve.

"Quickly, we don't have much time." She hurried to the corner where she dropped the metal object (_a gum,_ Bill remembered the name to be). She picked it up and rushed from the room with Bill hot on her heels.

"Where are you going?" Bill asked.

"All will be explained when we meet the others downstairs. You did call for the others, correct?" She spoke with such urgency that Bill began to worry.

"Of course I did." _Malfoy did at least_, he thought remembering the eagle Patronus that the blonde conjured and sent earlier

"Great! So you can help me inform them that they should go straight to the prison, Azkaban. Harry said that he would need assistance there."

Bill stopped midway down the stairs. "What do you mean? You and Harry spoke?"

"Yes, how else would I know what he said?" She asked irritated and impatiently. "There is much that I have to share with you and the others when we-." She stopped mid-speak as a sea of spell-lit wands met them in the foyer.

In front of them stood the entirety of the Order minus Dumbledore. Bill sighed internally and met the bewildered and questioning stares of the Order members with a slightly raised chin.

_If they think they can intimidate me en masse again, they are poking the wrong mandrake._ He wasn't sure where he was received the sudden confidence but it was greatly accepted, despite how it frightened him.

Bill ignored the whispering of his name by the Order members as he continued descending the stairs. He noticed then, as Harry's aunt approached the Order, writing on the wall next to him.

_A muggle for your thoughts, Potter._

If it were not for the severity of the situation, and for the fact that everything was obviously written in human blood, Bill would have snorted at the pun.

"NO!" Harry's aunt produced an unearthly, heart wrenching scream her gaze too few upon the wall. She collapsed, fell to her knees and wept loudly.

Bill was the first to reach her. Wordlessly, he placed a hand on her shoulder attempting to squeezed sympathy and reassurance into her now destitute world.

She looked up to him with watery eyes. "Bring them back," she said simply, flinching slightly out of his grasp. Bill nodded solemnly. It was obvious to him that she did not just mean her husband and son.

He made brief eye contact with Malfoy, who merely raised a platinum eyebrow as if to say 'well, hop to it.'

_Why does everyone believe that I am the one who can do something to bring Harry back? If he wanted to be back, he would._ He instantly muted the voice in his head that told him otherwise.

He turned away from Malfoy to the others, remembering why he and Harry's aunt had rushed down the stairs. "We must go to Azkaban." He continued despite the confusion and dismissal that met his statement, "According to her, Harry needs us to go to the prison-."

"He needs assistance there. He said he could be more of a help there, while you all assisted here." Harry's aunt said through sobs. "Not my baby, anyone but my baby." She shook under Bill's hand.

"When?" "What?" "Where is he?" They shouted in unison. The questions continued to pour from their mouths.

Bill used his wand to make a loud BOOM. "Are you really going to sit here interrogating the woman when Harry is obviously fighting Merlin knows how many Dark wizards at Azkaban!" He growled. He saw the internal conflict many of them had taking orders from him.

Not a moment too late, a woman dressed elegantly in white fur and green silk stepped forward and spoke. "Let's head there and check it out. We are done here anyway." As she gestured quickly to the massacre around her, Bill realized that it was his youngest and only sister who spoke. "It will not hurt to just-."

A phoenix Patronus appeared and interrupted her unnaturally urgent in Dumbledore's deep voice, _Azkaban under attack._

Timed seemed to slow for Bill. He felt all attention return to him and knew that he had to do something

He merely raised his wand and poured as much power he could into depower the Apparation wards surrounding the house. It sucked power straight from his core in painful surges. He struggled. _Damn these wards are strong. I can't imagine being on the outside and trying to break in._

"Apparate!" He commanded them. They did not need a second telling, considering the unheeded warning and insight he tried to provide them earlier. Numerous pops followed his directive. His sister, _right_, _no longer blood-relative_, waited a moment clutching the infamous pendant around her neck and gave him an indecipherable look. He closed his eyes briefly due to the strain his magic was under and, when he reopened them, she and the rest of the Order were gone.

Bill dropped his spell and a hand landed on his shoulder. He jumped nearly a foot or two into the air. A spell flew out of his wand wordlessly and nearly struck Malfoy in the face. The blond gave him an empty smile.

"You are still your normal nervous self, I see," the blond drawled. He dusted his robes off absentmindedly.

Bill did not bother to respond. He turned to the still crying woman at his feet. "Did Harry say where you should go? A secure, safe haven?" He tried not to agitate the woman more, but the question was necessary.

She gave a small cry of despair. "My home **was** my safe haven. **LOOK**. Look around you. Do you feel safe here? More of the those beasts could come any second and finish off what they started with my husband and my poor baby boy."

As he opened his mouth to respond and ask another question, Malfoy cut him off impatiently.

"She's right, you know." He suddenly looked more cautious and as dangerous as he looked as he had fought earlier. He observed their surrounding with a sweeping vigilance and settled his gaze on the window through which the sun was surprisingly setting. "There could be more on their way."

Bill decided not to argue against their logic. As Malfoy looked out the window and whispered to himself ("why hasn't the Ministry sent any more Aurors or Obliviators"), Bill prepared to Side-Apparate Harry's aunt and the blonde to his cottage.

He raised his wand to temporarily take down the Apparation ward again as a murky brown spell whizzed past his arm and struck the wall with the writing in blood behind him. The wall wobbled slightly. He watching in surprise as the wall simply stopped moving and suddenly imploded.

Malfoy blocked the onslaught of debris by summoning the front door. Bill released a breath that he did not know he was holding, and the house groaned from the sudden lack of support.

"They enchanted the windows and placed a silent bubble on the house! The clever buggers." Malfoy admitted angrily while removing the enchantment on the window

Malfoy conjured a corporal shield to protect them all from head to foot. He quickly sent the Killing Curse twice in the direction of the curse. Bill heard a heavy body hit the floor.

"I will depower the wards!" Malfoy said suddenly to Bill. "You can Side-Apparate the two of us to your place. Hurry!" He sent another Killing Curse over Bill's shoulder.

Still shivering from the power and intention of the curses that just passed mere inches from his head, he wasted no time reaching out for the blonde's shoulder. He felt himself subconsciously squeezing the woman's shoulder again.

Several more dark curses of various colours flew toward them. Bill ducked automatically. He instinctually prepared to send a curse back, but a hiss from Malfoy reminded him of his task.

The disenchanted window, showing the battle unfolding outside the house, suddenly exploded in a deadly shower of flying shards of glass. Malfoy wandlessly conjured an intensely powerful shield and staggered from the amount of power he put into the piece of magic.

The familiar feeling of Apparation almost conquered Bill's magically and physically exhausted body. He closed his eyes in concentration, focusing on getting to his destination as well as bringing the two people with him.

When he felt the ground return to its original position beneath his feet, relief overwhelmed him completely. He dropped like a ragdoll to the floor, followed soon by Malfoy, though with a more elegant landing on Bill's living-room floor.

Harry's aunt did not seem to notice the change in location, though Bill did notice the green tint to her complexion. She had yet to leave her kneeling position.

He was quite unsure of what to do for and with her. _How do you tell a woman that all will work itself out with time when she's probably lost her husband and son?_ He felt himself go a bit pale as he remembered his reaction to the similarly apparent death of Harry and their child.

He swallowed painfully as he took a quick journey down the agony-paved memory lane. He realized then that he had yet to let go of the woman.

Slowly he grabbed her and drew her into his shoulder. She resisted slightly but soon gave in. He wrapped his arms around the woman he barely knew, but who he commiserated with and connected to on a deep level of soul sorrow.

"Mine came back, when all looked bleak… yours will too." The woman shuddered violently. Bill could practically feel the inner struggle she was fighting with one part of her knowing that he was right, but the other wanting immediate physically evidence of such. "Harry won't allow anything to happen to them."

She went stiff in his arms. He did not let her go. But apparently that was the right thing to say as she soon relaxed, though she did not stop silently crying.

Bill was not sure how long they remained in that position, when her tears stopped wetting his shoulders because she ran out of them, or when Malfoy managed to get up unbeknownst to him and leave the room. At some point the blond returned to the room carrying a pot of tea, three cups and a plate full of some food he managed to find in Bill's refrigerator.

He uncapped a bottle of a familiar pink potion into the tea in front of Bill, behind the sobbing woman's back, as if to show him that he was not trying to poison them. He poured three cups of tea and offered two of them to Bill and Harry's aunt. The latter took a little longer to accept, but with some coaxing from Bill she took a sip and immediately became calmer. The Calming Potion's effects on muggles were more powerful and potent than on w.

Bill downed his whole cup and sighed contentedly. They sat in quiet for quite some time, enjoying the peaceful effects of the tea on their battle-tired bodies and minds.

"You know this is all my fault." Malfoy said breaking the peace and silence without warning.

Bill blinked unsure of how to interpret Malfoy's statement. "How so?" He asked simply.

Malfoy sighed deeply. He set his cup down gently before he looked up. Bill saw nothing but regret and sorry in his eyes.

"I was stubborn, childish – I really do hate your brother. If it weren't for the fact that I love your sister exponentially, I would have destroyed your family's name because of how much I loathe the weasel. No offense of course." Bill could only nod, though the fingers on his wand hand twitched slightly.

He decided that attacking the man would not help anyone at the moment. He also could not forget how Malfoy held his sister back as she wanted to rip him to shreds at the last Order meeting he attended. For that, Bill could only be grateful and forgiving.

"I do not see how anything of your problems with Ron have anything to do with this, whatever _this_ is." Bill said softly.

Malfoy gave a cold laugh. "It was because of that petty hatred, albeit totally earned, that I hindered the search for Potter. I remember much Olympian from my lessons with Conan. I could have analyzed the end of the memory you showed at any time."

Something about the uneasiness in the blonde's eyes unnerved Bill. Bill felt as if something was missing. Surely, Malfoy's hatred of Ron affected his interest in assisting the Order in their quest to find Harry, but for some reason Bill just did not believe Malfoy's simple reasoning.

_For someone who is supposedly confessing, he surely knows how to only partially do so. _Bill narrowed his eyes. "Ron wasn't the only thing that kept you from helping, was it?"

Malfoy started startled. He opened his mouth but closed it immediately afterwards. He looked down at his suddenly interesting hands like a kid caught red-handed. "As a kid I dreamed of gods and goddesses. They were all of different sizes, colors, and types depending on the culture and nationality. I loved the Norse, Greek, and Egyptian gods above all, partially due to their impact on magic and partially because of the stories my mother read to me as a child from their roles, romances and relations with heroes and us _mortals_."

He stood up suddenly fidgeting slightly with his hands. "I always wanted to see them, talk to them, for them to talk to me… It was something that stayed with me until I went to Hogwarts and had to rid myself of that "childhood fetish," as my father called it." He ran a hand through his hair. "But seeing the magnitude of their power, seeing the effect they can have a person, a war, even a _world_, scared me shitless!"

Bill suddenly followed his logic. "And you are afraid of analyzing the riddle because you think they will start talking to you?"

Malfoy shook his head in the negative. "No. I could survive a conversation with them."

"Then I'm confused-."

From his shoulder, Harry's aunt gave a loud groan. "Isn't obvious? He's afraid of _Harry_, not of the prospect of talking to those gods!" She said turning to look at the blushing blond.

"In few words, yes. I'm more afraid of what power he holds through them, than just Harry himself." He plopped himself unceremoniously in the chair he had previously occupied. "Ginny, with his necklace around her neck, hidden or not, frightens me."

"Why though?" Bill asked, detaching himself from the woman. "Neither Harry nor Ginny would use their powers for nefarious reasons."

"Have you heard the stories of Hera and Zeus?" Draco asked suddenly. "He supposedly hung her from the heavens by her ankles for defying him. Zeus's father ate his children because he was told one would be more powerful and mighty than he. Apollo turned hung a boy from a tree and flayed him alive for challenging him in a music contest. Hades stole Persephone from her mother and forced her to eat a pomegranate, now she must remain in the underworld with him from six months of a year."

Bill furrowed his brow in confusion.

Malfoy gave a small growl of annoyance. "These _beings_ are not just about helping mortals become the best they can be; they are selfish, egotistic, and furthermore manipulative. I can almost assert that they can't be trusted."

Bill reeled back slightly. That was not what he was expecting. "Therefore…"

"Therefore, I worry sometimes about their influence on Potter."

Harry's aunt nearly pounced on the blonde. Bill barely managed to restrain her, although part of him did not want to and another part was afraid to. "How dare you insult Harry after all that he's done-," she said in a fierce growl.

Bill held his tongue. Something about Malfoy's argument didn't settle properly in Bill's mind. But something also told him not to question the man, he let the man explain himself to Harry's aunt.

"I'm doing no such thing." Malfoy sighed, something Bill noticed he had been doing a lot of in the past minutes. "I am just explaining my reasons for hesitation and worry."

"I understand your concerns, but those were all stories, stories that have filtered through human mouths and imaginations for eons. Regardless of how accurate they sound, how do we know their trustworthiness?" Bill asked.

Malfoy smiled sadly. "I've tried to convince myself with that one too. I got about as far as you are getting."

Bill narrowed his eyes at the blonde. _What a lame and unconvincing excuse_.

"They love him!" Harry's aunt said indignantly.

"They loved many mortals. Some were cursed for being loved. However, even those mortals who managed to survive, they were never as close to the gods as Potter is. I can't help but to fear it."

"What if Harry wasn't a mortal?" The woman exclaimed. "What if they had loved him so much that they made him immortal like them?" Her words rang in Bill's ears as if the woman had somehow managed to trap them there.

_What if he wasn't a mortal?_ He froze in thought. _What does she mean?_ His mind could not unwrap the idea. _She couldn't possibly mean that Harry is – but that is outrageous_! He tried and failed to silence the quiet, yet resilient, voice that said that Harry being immortal made sense.

Malfoy paled in, what Bill found to be, genuine shock and surprise. He gaped at the woman who now had the nerve to look ashamed of herself.

"Oh well… There goes _that_ promise." She gave a dry laugh, wiping her face.

"You cannot be serious!" Draco's voice was ten times higher than normal. The blonde shook his head as if to remove the words that plagued it with hundreds of thoughts and thousands of questions to the thoughts.

Without warning, she turned to Bill. "Your son is gorgeous. He has Harry's complexion and eyes and your nose and hair," She said, apparently changing the subject. "But, I've held many babes before in my life, magical and non-magical, and your little tyke simply is not mortal. He glows like a light bulb when Harry starts speaking to _them_; or when he wears those sandals that they made for him."

Draco was beside himself in disbelief. "It cannot be! Never before has it been recorded that a demi-god was also a wizard. An _immortal_ wizard…" He continued mumbling loudly, partially to himself, and partially to Bill and Harry's aunt.

Bill barely noted what the blonde was saying. His mind was still swimming with thoughts of his son as he body numbed.

Bill could barely breathe. _A son… a baby boy with his hair and nose._ The bit about Harry or their son being immortal had barely struck him yet. Tears stung the corners of his eyes as he thought more about the boy, the son, he had never seen.

He turned to Harry's aunt to inquire about his son, interrupting Malfoy's incessant ramblings in the meantime. "Please tell me, what is his name? I must know the name of my son."

She smiled warmly at him. Bill could see that this smile came from her heart this time and not just from her lips. "He carries not only your nose and hair but your first name as well, William Henry. After you and Harry. I christened him myself!" She said proudly.

Bill leaned back and soaked in his imagination's attempt to visualize the little boy. _How old would the little tyke be now? He must be walking and talking already. I wonder if he's asked about me… I wonder if Harry told him about me. His father… I'm his father. I'm a dad._

Malfoy stood up abruptly causing the chair to tilt backwards precariously.

"Where are you going?" Bill asked, confused, his mind still scrambled by the newfound knowledge of his son. _William Henry_. _I wonder how they christened him without a last name. Harry and I aren't even married!_

"I must find Potter and talk to him myself. I have so many questions to ask him, and maybe talk to _them_ through him as well." His eyes lit up at the possibility.

"So you've given up this irrational fear that he is too powerful and dangerous already?" Harry's aunt asked bluntly. Bill slowly began to see how Harry took after her.

"No. I am, however, a Slytherin. Though we are not generally brave, we are ambitious and self-serving. Despite what those gods are or were, I refuse to miss out on a chance to talk to them." He said honestly. "Or at least a demi-god."

Bill smiled. "I would recommend talking to my sister first." Bill could see the blond restraining himself from correcting Bill's slip of the tongue, as Ginny was no longer her sister by blood. "She, like me, as conversed with them at some point. Maybe she and Dumbledore can lead you on the right track?"

Malfoy nodded. He made to leave and turned around to face Bill. "What's it like?"

Remembering his last encounter with the deities, Bill shook his head grinning. "Like nothing else I've experienced."

Malfoy nodded, though this time more confidently. He bid them both a brief farewell before he hurried forth from the cottage.

Bill quickly went about reinforcing all of his wards, though he was quite certain that no one in their wildest mind would think to look for Harry's aunt at Bill's cottage. He was still considered by most the wizarding community to embody everything anti-Harry.

Bill returned to the sitting room and sat with Harry's aunt in timid silence for a moment or two. He was exhausted, but so much swam through his head at the moment. He was tired but not tired nor relaxed enough to sleep.

"Would you like to see the garden that Harry built here? It's very similar to the one he built in your own backyard." He thought it was best to distract the woman from any thoughts of her husband and son.

She nodded slowly in understanding, accepting his arm as he led her through the kitchen to the garden.

Everything shone with an ethereal light, despite that moon's illumination. The fountain's dripping gave off a melodious and relaxing music that seemed to remove all sad thoughts and feelings. Bill felt himself go slightly lightheaded and looked to Harry's aunt to observe her reaction.

Two tears glistened on her face, one under each eye. "It's beautiful." She said simply before she left go of his arm and went to observe everything more closely. Bill left to give her some temporal peace and to prepare a place for her to sleep.

With a sigh Bill looked up towards the night sky. _Harry, you better hear this and find them. If you don't, I will._


End file.
